Sailor Moon Next: Rise of the Kuiper Senshi
by whuntva
Summary: Leilani Kane, age 15, grew up on the Sailor Moon franchise. After moving from Hawaii to New Mexico, she fulfills her dream of becoming a Magical Girl, but not at all in the way she expected. She has become the leader of a new generation of Senshi and almost right away has to save the universe from a great threat. Can she defeat it while balancing out being a normal teenage girl?
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:**_ This work is not meant to be read as fanfiction, at least not in the traditional sense. I write this story not only as a sequel to the original _Sailor Moon,_ but also as a reimagining of the general concept. I loved the idea and the characters of the original anime, and when I thought of writing about Senshi who oversaw dwarf planets, my mind ran wild as to how the new Senshi would fight and how they would act twenty years on. This, in my mind is a deconstruction of sorts of the ideas _Sailor Moon_ had, but also a modernized take on the idea and a test at creating new characters. Reading the story this way, I feel I have accomplished that goal. Enjoy!

 **Concept art for the Kuiper Senshi here:** art/The-Lesser-Senshi-588911910 **  
**

 _ **Chapter I: Haumea's Fire**_

One year after I embarked on my journey, I have been asked to tell a story for any future heroes who may someday be inspired to assume my position by my words. Some of the details may not be accurate and many events and locations are blurred in my mind, but on behalf of my partners and my mentor, I shall try my best to accurately relay them to you.

My story began when I woke up to the sound of my alarm in late August of last year. First day, I thought. What's there to torture me in my new home today?

I was born in Hawaii, but moved to New Mexico close to my fifteenth birthday. My father had been offered a business startup in Santa Fe, so the family just had to accept it because his salary would double if he did. The thought of moving this far from the ocean and the tropics and volcanoes made me cringe. I had a home. I liked looking at the Pacific Ocean from my window. Volcanoes fascinated me and I never worried when one erupted. The one near my house, Kilauea, had been active forever. Whenever I saw its red lava flow, it felt like a message from the Earth. I was able to feel the essence of a living being, and the notion of new land being created and warmth coming to the soil comforted me. But that was in the past. Now, I had to make do with the stale air and Rocky Mountains of the Southwest.

I had already lived in New Mexico for about a month before school started, so there was time for adjustment and acclimatization to the high altitudes. But since school had not started, I still didn't know anyone my age.

As I lay idle in my bed for a while, I began to contemplate what I was getting myself into. I got dressed thirty minutes after my alarm. I put on what my Hawaiian friends called my "signature style": red zip-hoodie, grey sweats, and black fur boots. The hoodie was put over a T-shirt for my favorite TV show, _Sailor Moon._ An avid fan since I was six, I had kept my love going well into my teen years. Usagi and her friends were my idols and gave me something to aspire to during my transition. I thought it would be cool to be a Magical Girl and escape my mindless routine of everyday life. If Sailor Moon could survive an alien invasion, I could handle moving to a new state. To make a good impression, I zipped my hoodie all the way so nobody would know I was such a nerd.

"All set, Lani!" I heard my mom call from downstairs.

"Yeah," I groaned back. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Throughout my middle and high school years, the first day always felt weird because of those darn icebreakers the teachers had to offer. I hated those because I was naturally shy and hated talking to people. But every year, like clockwork, they would find new ways to embarrass me.

This time, my first class of the day was AP Lit. My dad had often pressured me to do higher level classes, but at the same time I was a decent student and didn't mind them. Literature was one of my better subjects because I already liked reading and overanalyzing literature was my favorite part of the process. So why not?

I walked into class and rushed to pick a window seat. I always pick window seats because they give me extra light to do work by. And I am not the center of attention on a window seat. Teachers always looked away from the lights. The desks were arranged table style, two units by two units, implying a heavily conversational class.

Soon, a girl with dark red hair tied in a ponytail wearing thick glasses danced into the room. She sat down in the seat diagonal to mine, knocking over a few posters from the filing cabinet as a result. After she sat down, she tilted her head in my direction, and let out a big toothy smile as she gazed.

"Wow! I never saw you before. I know everyone in tenth grade but I never saw you. You must be new, then. Who are you?" she inquired.

She was affront and enthusiastic in her greeting. It seemed like she was excited to see an outsider pervade her previously static high school class. As for me, my throat clenched at the mere thought of talking to a stranger, so I said nothing.

Noting my hesitance, my classmate took a different approach. "I'm Steffi. You?"

My heart raced. An actual human was talking to me! What should I do?

"Well…" I began. "I'm…Lani. And I just moved from…Hawaii." The words were barely audible as my voice dropped to a low-level whisper.

"Oh, that's fine. What do you like to do?"

"I…write journal articles for my Wordpress sometimes. Often book reviews, sometimes random thoughts. I also play guitar and can cook Japanese-style."

"Cool! I mostly draw. My main style is manga."

"Manga, you say!" Suddenly, I felt calmer. We had a common bond, so I felt a surge of confidence rush from my heart. I unzipped to show her my _Sailor Moon_ tee to illustrate my common interest.

She smiled. "Good taste," she said.

Suddenly, a medium-tall boy, about a foot taller than myself, burst into the room and slouched in the seat next to mine. He was fairly well-dressed, with a button-down shirt and black slacks. Though his hair was matted and he wore a pair of sunglasses on his forehead above his normal glasses.

I tried to talk to him, but he was already conversing with some of his classmates standing over him. I only overheard one part towards the end.

"So that earthquake we had that year. That really sidetracked me and everyone in my house panicked."

"Oh, you," I blurted out. "Where I'm from, earthquakes are pretty normal."

Why did I do that? What was my fascination with him? I seized up talking to Steffi and now I was striking up a conversation with a clear stud. Had I been possessed or something?

Be it divine intervention or general curiosity, the boy acknowledged me. "Where are you from?"

"Hawaii."

"Wow! Pretty far."

"Yeah," I giggled. What? Was that the best I could do? I was an even bigger dork than I thought!

I picked up my pencil and began twirling it a bit in anxiety. The boy glanced over at me.

"Left-handed, huh?" he noticed.

I stifled a minor chuckle. "Yeah. One of those little things about me."

"I think it's cool. I only saw one or two other lefties last year."

We sat in awkward silence for a bit. "Nice to see you here," he said. "I'm Roy". He offered me his hand.

"Lani." We shook.

It felt strange. Like I was shaking the hand of someone who had subnormal body heat. Though that may have been my own heart rate overtaking his. And also, shaking. I had made contact with another person who offered me his own hand first. I had two new friends without even trying. Was New Mexico cursed or something?

* * *

The bell rang and the teacher walked in. The in-class television delivered a message for the new school year. "Good day, Central. This is Principal Robert Wright and I am here to welcome you all back to another glorious year at the greatest school in Santa Fe. To those of you new here, Central is a loving, welcoming environment for all students in all walks of life. I am so fortunate to have one of the kindest student bodies at any school I've ever worked. We are going to make you feel right at home with the club announcements posted in the main hall and student activities office located in the freshman locker bay. Homecoming is a bit late this year, being the last week of October, but please submit your Spirit Day ideas as soon as you can. With that said, let's all stand for the pledge and minute of silence to start another glorious year in Central High. Go Mustangs!"

The principal led the standard Pledge of Allegiance, and then sat us down for the "minute of silence". I had never done one before, but I got the gist through the title and by observing how the class behaved during it. For sixty seconds, one could do whatever they wanted in their heads as long as they didn't talk. I thought some would be in prayer or writing or planning their day, but I chose to use this time to think of what I could do later today. Can Steffi and Roy possibly be my friends? What sorts of things could I do with them to overcome my fear of other students? All this raced through me, but I didn't blurt anything out in adherence to the "minute of silence" practice.

After the moment had passed, the teacher introduced himself. "Hello, everyone. I am Mr. Stanislav. Check your schedules for the right AP Lit instructor and period. If you came to the wrong place, I'll have to kick you out." A funny guy. At least the funny ones I had were more tolerable back home.

"Here in AP Lit, we discuss books. I will go over the syllabus later, but I feel this is a good day to discuss…ourselves." He pulled out an apple-shaped stress ball from his pocket and placed it on his desk. "Since this is the first day, we'll start with a few icebreakers."

Told you so.

"If you look at the second part of the syllabus, it says a few impromptu test arrangements will be given to test various reading, writing, and communicating skills over the course of the year. This one is to test your speaking skills. We will do this again at some point, but you won't be graded on it until later in the year. I call it 'Like...Um'. I will throw the apple at you, and if you catch it, you have to state your name, _one_ event that happened to you over the summer, and the most important thing you learned thus far in life. Then, you throw it to a classmate and they pick up from there. For a challenge, do not say 'Like' or 'Um' when you are grasping for words. Ready…Go!"

He threw the apple up in the air, and three students reached for it. One was Roy. He bobbed and tossed the apple until he lost its grip. As it fell down, I had my hands clasped to my chest, trying to avoid embarrassment again. Just as I tried to tuck into a ball, the apple fell on my head and plopped on my outstretched hands. I heard a few snickers, but most people were staring at me. This was worst case scenario and I was right in the middle of it.

"Would you mind introducing yourself, Miss?" Mr. Stanislav asked.

I almost cried, but I took a deep breath before I started. "Hi, my name is Leilani Kane. But you can call me Lani. Everyone does." I tried to fake a smile to get people on my better side. Judging by nobody pointing and laughing, it seemed to work.

"Good, Lani. Anything interesting to share about yourself from over the break."

"I just moved here from Hawaii. My dad works for a tech startup called FeCorp. They program Android apps and I learned that you just have to keep moving because when you stop, then you definitely fail."

"Cool," Mr. Stanislav said. "And great advice for all of us here. Anything to add about FeCorp?"

"We're working on apps for use in geology. Back in Hawaii we had a lot of volcanoes. And Dad wanted an app to analyze soil fertility in relation to volcanic lava." Mr. Stanislav nodded in approval, signaling me that my time was up. I got rid of the apple as soon as I could, chucking it in the direction of a larger boy across the classroom.

This was basically how the rest of my day went. It was all introductions and syllabus signing. The real test had yet to begin.

* * *

I called my mom after school and told her to meet me at the front entrance. While I was standing outside, something rolled at my feet.

I closely examined the object. It resembled a microphone, but was solid red with gold trim. There was nothing explaining to me what it was, but there was a small switch near the center, practically invisible to the untrained eye.

I looked at the bottom to find the brightest ruby I had ever seen. It was only about an inch and a half in diameter, but it shone so brightly in my face, I had to turn it away to avoid going blind. As soon as I did, the glow ceased.

I looked around to see if anyone else was watching. Nobody seemed to take note as they were all moving about the lot and nobody looked in my direction. I immediately tucked the rod in the back pocket of my backpack, only barely visible hanging from an opening.

My mom pulled up about ten minutes later and I got in the car. "Sorry if I kept you waiting."

"Oh, no. It wasn't that bad."

The drive home was fine. I only lived five minutes away, so we decided it was not too much difficulty driving me every day. About two minutes of this was silence, and I avoided eye contact so as to not discuss anything that happened today, or potentially giving away my secret. Then, Mom dropped the dreaded question.

"How'd your first day in New Mexico go?" She always badgers me into talking about these things. Most of the time I really have nothing to say, but I tried to come up with a good story this time.

"Uh…fine. We have to sign a few things when we get home, but my homework this time is pretty light at least. We did this weird activity where you had to tell a story without adding 'Like' or 'Um', to make us sound more professional."

"That's great. It will help you out in job interviews, I can tell you that much. Meet any new people?"

"Two or three. This one girl, Steffi, wants to start a reading group for AP Lit. So I might stay with her on weekends. And this other guy, Roy, he seemed very nice. He noticed I was a leftie and actually taught the class about our first work being read. We're covering _Doctor Faustus_ and he went on and on about Marlowe and how Elizabethan Drama was reflected through the themes of the work."

She smiled a bit at Roy. She seemed to be soaking in the fact some boy had finally taken notice of me; something that had almost never happened before.

She finally said, "That's nice. Sounds like you're off to a good start."

The rest was mostly optimistic silence. I didn't show her my new toy.

* * *

After school, I went for my daily cooldown walk. I pledged to walk around Hilo, Hawaii for about forty-five minutes a day. It relieved stress and I performed better because blood circulated to my brain, so I did it every day. When I came to New Mexico, I had to readjust for the climate, but I had lived in Santa Fe long enough to map a walking route for myself. My new route was five blocks down my street. It involved a loop through a small residential crossing, walk through a strip mall in case I was hungry and wanted McDonald's and then five blocks back home.

As I was passing by the residential area, I saw standing in front of me a strange man with a black shirt and an elaborate radio set. He looked only slightly older than me, but was transfixed on his tech gear, which began beeping as an antenna to a remote he was holding pointed right at me. He pointed his head up and looked my way, staring with mild enthusiasm at my backpack. "Excuse me, ma'am. You got something I want to see."

I remembered "Stranger Danger" and prepared to use my bag in self-defense.

"No, no," the man said. "I won't do that. Trust me. I just wanted to see the thing in your bag."

I pulled out the red instrument I had found that day.

He did not take it from me, but he stared it up and down, analyzing its appearance and composition. "Hmm, yes. Interesting it landed here. I thought the first one would take much longer to activate. You got a name?"

"Just call me Lani."

"Alright, Lani. You should know that what you hold in your hand is extremely important. You should only use it when necessary and…"

Suddenly a crash erupted from the main square. A human clad in what looked like white Trojan armor appeared from the wreckage of a car. As people ran screaming, he lifted his sword and sliced a street lamp in two. He lifted his visor to show one red, moving eye. It activated a laser and vaporized a table right in front of me.

"Lani, I have to tell you something. I wanted to save this for a better time, but at the moment I have no choice. My name is Ganymede, and I am a son of Sailor Jupiter and Nephrite".

"No, you can't be." I almost had to stifle laughter. This guy was a bigger nerd than I was.

"I am. And if you know what's good for you, you would flick the on-switch and save us all!"

Now I was beginning to think this guy was legitimately insane. "No way! I should probably call the cops to see if they can figure this…"

"JUST DO AS I SAY! This part is optional due to changes in programming, but for bonus points, shout 'Haumea Power, Make Up' Just like the show."

"Fine," I sighed.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and flicked the switch.

"Haumea Power, Make Up!"

* * *

As soon as I did this, I felt as though I had lost control of my body. My flesh and blood burned as I ascended high into the air. I was in agony all through this process, which felt like it lasted several minutes, but Ganymede later told me was mere seconds long. Soon, the pain receded and I felt cold instead of warm, which I guessed at the time was an improvement. I also felt stronger than normal, and more alert to my situation.

When I came down from my mid-air suspension, the pain continued, but I found I had transformed. I looked down at myself, and I appeared to be wearing Sailor Senshi garb, but with a few differences. My costume was solid red, with orange and yellow stripes on the skirt. My sleeves were orange puffs, much like how I remembered the Eternal Senshi wore. My gloves, also bright red, bore darker red gauntlets, and I touched my back to find I also wore a cape that started at my lower shoulder blades. I looked at my reflection in a window. For a girl who felt like she'd nearly been burned to death, I actually looked decent. I had finally become a Magical Girl, but not at all in the way I had in mind.

The soldier-dude noticed and took aim. Using some of my newfound strength, I made an acrobatic dodge most Olympic gymnasts would struggle to replicate.

"Okay, wise guy. Now what?!" I turned to Ganymede, holding my prop in his direction.

"The thing is voice activated. Just say something you want it to do, and it will work."

I thought for a minute about what exactly I wanted it to do. Should I make my own lightsaber? Should I just throw it at him? I was wondering what exactly I wanted to shoot from it if I wanted my own firearm.

"Um… _Fire_!" I thought at last. It wasn't fire per se that came out, but molten hot Pahoehoe lava came from the top in a massive tidal wave. It emitted minor fumes, but rode directly at the enemy. His face mask melted completely off, but most of his armor was surprisingly unharmed. As he let out a guttural scream, He rolled on the ground to put out any fires on his body, and instantly ran away. As he dashed off, I thought I saw his armor fade away, leaving only a black jumpsuit in its place.

Ganymede pulled me over. "That creature was known as the Pawn-Bearer. You actually beat one on your first try with little assistance! I didn't know what to expect with you, but you did very well considering. Great job, Lani!"

I was a bit woozy from the attack, but could still talk to him. "You have a lot of explaining to do. I don't know how you know so much about me, or why I'm wearing… _this."_ I tugged at my skirt. "Or how I was able to pull off that move so well."

"We'll have time to talk later, but we gotta run now!"

He grabbed me by the arm and we ran.

* * *

"So you mean to tell me that _Sailor Moon_ is real?"

We had retreated to the back alley of a pizza place nearby.

"Yep," Ganymede said. "All of it."

"Then why wasn't it global news twenty years ago? You'd think we would all have known if aliens attacked Earth all those years ago."

"The manga author was also their official scribe, a divine being herself. The Senshi blessed her with the gift of storytelling and diplomacy to craft her tale as fantastical as possible. The Japanese press agreed to keep it secret if she published her work as fiction."

"That makes sense," I admitted. "But where are the Senshi now? And why didn't they intervene against the Pawn-Bearer?"

Ganymede sighed. "The Original Senshi retired long ago. They now reside on their home planets."

"But their sons and daughters sensed a threat. Sometime during the intermittent period between then and now, an ultra-powerful being emerged on Earth known as 'The Chessmaster'. Nobody knows how he got his power, but he is credible enough to be a threat to the known universe. He created the Pawn-Bearers from his energy and scattered several other creatures across the galaxy in search of some sort of power core that could grant him immortality."

"The Senshi themselves are in no position to fight at their current age, but at the same time did not have an army to fight the Chessmaster. Later, they discovered beyond Pluto a ring of bodies known as the Kuiper Belt. Since the Moon Princess never saw that planet, no Senshi were created to protect them. So Mercury thought to create some. They sent down a Greater Shard containing their power to create new Senshi to fight the good fight for them. And colonize those new planets."

"The shard split into four separate pieces and dropped in different places across the world. The shards would be attracted to those who radiated the purest aura. They'd be drawn like iron to a magnet if they found the perfect match. And those who received them would know because they would never get rid of them and they would shine a light on the chosen girl."

I turned my rod over and looked at the ruby, holding it just enough away from my face so I could examine it. No way was I that pure. I'd had plenty of faults and was a huge anti-socialite. I often came across as just a people-hater. I could never have the charisma of the Senshi on the show. But, fate never lies. I have to learn to accept these things sometime.

"The descendants of the original five were sent to Earth as a network of spies, radiating off the magic of the past Senshi. Our mission was to observe, protect, and train them into our galaxy's next fighting force."

"So unlike them, I do not have a past life as a Space Princess?" I was a bit disappointed.

"Nope. We decided to expand our services to the newest discovered dwarf planets recently. You are the first leader of the domain of Haumea. We don't know what happens when you colonize them, but you kind of have to _earn_ the princesshood."

 _Haumea._ The name triggered memories of my home in Hawaii. She was the great matriarch. She was a provider, a caregiver, and all the gods sprang from her body. I suddenly realized why my powers seemed to be lava-based. For though lava destroys most life in its path, it creates new land and breeds new life.

"That name could be meaningful. Since you are the first one found, you have to bring into the world a new team of Senshi." He handed me a small badge with a flame emblem. "This makes you the official leader of the Kuiper Senshi."

Police sirens and chopper blades started to approach our general area. Ganymede got restless.

"But we have no time to waste, Lani!"

Ganymede hiked up his backpack and took me by the arm. "Come. Your training begins now!" And we sprinted in the direction of my home.

It was going to be a crazy year. And I had only just started sophomore year of high school!


	2. Chapter 2

Also, do not expect me to be so quick with the chapters next time. I have most of the story written, but I have to fine tune it a bit before publishing. I'd rather have them be good than be prompt! Thank you for understanding.

 _ **Chapter 2: A Sailor in Training!**_

I was thankful Ganymede was able to get us through pedestrian traffic without a single interview or call for my arrest. I don't know how he did it, but we never had anyone take notice as we made our journey through the shadows. I pointed Ganymede in the direction of my house and it was to there we ran.

We rushed back down the way I came back in. It seems my cell phone changed with me because I heard a call from my dad come from my rod. I picked it up when we were clear of the fire sirens and his voice was audible. He heard about the incident on the news and wondered if I was okay. I had make something up fast, so I told him I had left the scene right before it happened and that I was on my way home; no need to pick me up. Dad expressed no concern at all and said it was okay. He is like that most times. Dad does not tend to care what I do so long as I do not harm myself in any way. I liked that about him.

Ganymede gave me a trench coat from his suitcase to cover my outfit. "Your powers respond to your adrenaline and heart rate. You should turn back to normal as soon as you calm down from the attack. Now that you have assumed the role of Sailor Senshi, I will make a deal. I am going to take you home. But now that I found you, this means my mission is to be your public representative and mentor."

"I guess that means you'll cover my butt for all the accidents and keep me out of jail."

"Yeah. I talk with the press to arrange how to report you as well as keep your identity a secret. As for the mentor part, you have not yet learned how to control your powers. But after we get back home, I want you to contact me with meeting times. Also, when you come to my house to begin training, please submit a short biography about yourself. I want to know if you have anything we can utilize for your new powers."

"Deal," I agreed.

Just then, I realized a minor element from the show with this setup. There seemed to be an essential part of the show missing from my experience. "I thought the moon cats were supposed to be the ones to train new Senshi."

Ganymede laughed a hearty laugh. "Well, the moon cat thing wore thin ages ago. The original Senshi decided nobody would believe that story this time around. If there was a talking cat on Earth in current year, the Senshi would either scream and run or donate it to science. So that idea was scrapped. Besides, some of us were already here, so why not have the Senshi children be the new mentors?"

I was disappointed. I thought Luna was cute and I always wanted my own animal to care for. On the other hand, my mom was allergic so it would be difficult to convince her to keep a cat in the house. It was probably for the best, but now I had another can of worms to explain by saying I was working with an older man for matters not school related.

Ganymede gave me his email and phone number on a notecard and told me to contact him as soon as I could. I didn't know for sure how trustworthy he was, but if my favorite show had come to life and I could now shoot lava from a space wand, I was willing to believe anything at this point. "We can work out meetings later. The old Senshi were very good at keeping the ruse in spite of everything, so I will figure something out with you."

When I got home, I rushed upstairs before anyone could notice me. I slammed the door and lay in a fetal position inside my closet to calm myself down. I felt the tears run from my face and I started to cry a little, but I kept it to myself in order to avoid being seen. Dad didn't care about what I did, true, but it was too much to explain my new outfit and I did not by any means have a convincing alibi for it. It took about an hour for my Sailor Haumea costume to revert to my normal clothes.

* * *

The next day was rough. Not because everyone knew, but because everyone was speculating. They were pointing fingers at each other, but for whatever reason ruled me out. I had no idea why, though. Was my face not a dead giveaway? I think I may have gotten a bit taller when I was Sailor Haumea, but my face and hair color were the exact same. I did not get it.

As I had expected, I was all over the news. Sort of. It seems my "public representative" had altered the story a bit to make me sound less like a common criminal. The "vigilante in a sailor suit" had all my dead giveaways in her description: Female, long black hair, dark skin, a bit on the short side, somewhere in her mid-teens. But no mention of me or any other names. Nonetheless, yesterday's encounter was online the minute it happened, and it was the only thing anyone was talking about. The governor had not yet declared a state of emergency, so school was still on. But I believed that emergency warning would be the next step.

I was amazed nobody found me out. I don't even have Clark Kent's excuse of wearing glasses in my civilian form. How nobody saw it, I don't know. But when I checked my phone, it seemed all the photos had my face just out of reach or at a distance. Most of them looked like amateur cell phone pictures. I was relieved Ganymede had kept me hidden.

The article I was reading was an embarrassment. It came from , but had a reporter from the _New Mexican._ With the rise of the Internet and citizen journalism, who needs print journals anymore? I rolled my eyes at just how wrong everything was. I suspected Ganymede of tampering, but even so it was funny just seeing how the reporter did not care about what he was reporting. Here is roughly what the article said:

 _ **Teen Otaku Ravages Community with Roleplay Activity**_

When does an obsession go too far?

When it involves fighting others. In a freak incident at Santa Fe Metro Plaza, a thief in armor later identified as Canto Ruiz was in the process of stealing metal gardening supplies for reasons unknown. Before he could escape, though, a young girl wearing garb resembling the costumes present in the classic _Sailor Moon_ anime was present to face him in combat. This rabid fangirl took her obsession too far. It looked like she was just a little careless in how she wanted to test her new tube of toothpaste. How the transpiring events occurred is uncertain, but it looked as though lava erupted from a stick she was carrying and covered Ruiz. Ruiz was so dazed from the event, he was arrested with little resistance.

Santa Fe resident and witness Gordon Aquarius claimed to be a noted fan of not only the anime, but of this new character as well. "She know what she is doing, I will give her that much," Aquarius said when approached for comment. "And also, property damage was not too great, so I do not feel any worry is needed. Instead, we should applaud the young Sailor for standing up and doing the right thing today!"

Santa Fe police have been notified of the vigilante, but she was not found leaving the scene nor were any suspects announced. It is believed since the new Sailor seems to be working in accordance with the law and was in the process of apprehending the criminal, no charges are likely to be filed. Whatever the case, be it vigilante or guardian angel, it is great to know New Mexico has a hero watching out for it.

At least the last paragraph described my presence as a positive. Maybe this would not be so bad after all. No such thing as bad publicity, they said. And this publicity felt good. It could have portrayed me worse. Judging by the similarity in name and my knowledge of Greek mythology, I guessed "Gordon Aquarius" must have been the alias Ganymede was using for Earth diplomacy purposes.

Roy stood in back, reading his phone. When he saw me move next to him, he looked at me, then back to his phone. "It is interesting that right after the anniversary season, Sailor Moon would reveal herself. I know she is not the real Sailor Moon, but I will take what I can get."

"Oh," I commented. "You are a fan, too?"

"Yeah. For the writing, of course. NOT just the cure girls! I was a bit afraid to say so when I was young, but when you are a kid, you watch what is on and do not care what it is." He made a sideways glance my direction, narrowing his eyes as they scanned me. "But still…interesting she would be here in New Mexico. I would like to know what school she goes to and what abilities she can use or if she is into rich, athletic guys." He droned on and I backed away, as it was clear he was not thinking about Leilani Kane anymore.

When I got home, I went straight for my dad's study. "Hey, Dad. You know how to make a tracking app, right?"

"Sure. But what a strange request? What is meant by 'tracking'? How would I track what is needed here? What would you need to track?"

"It…is for a project. I am testing radiology." I was not lying. My geology teacher did assign a project on radiometric dating. I could have used this app to test samples of fossil leaves and organic tree bark she gave us in class that day.

"Alright. I will see what I can do. Very strange request, though. We were planning on expanding into geology, but radiometry was the last thing we were expecting."

"And make it long range. Like, continent wide! I want to observe as much as I can."

Dad rolled his eyes a bit, but worked on the program for the rest of the week. By Saturday, he created the beta for Tracker, which could sense radioactivity from as far as Alaska, and allowed others from his company to submit their findings. He got about six hundred responses and they were catalogued from as far as Canada. He decided the results of the beta were satisfactory, and after a few minor alterations, I had the alpha of Tracker downloaded onto my phone the next day. I love having a techie in the family.

* * *

That Saturday, I met with Steffi and some of her friends to discuss our first AP lit text. We had started with Elizabethan drama, and were covering Christopher Marlowe's _Doctor Faustus,_ which was coincidental but also inappropriate to my current situation.

If you do not know the story, Faustus sells his soul to the devil to study Magic, as he has grown bored of the earthly sciences. Sound familiar? The only difference is my story was not consensual. I get to study Magic whether I want to or not.

We had to prepare to discuss the book on the spot, so we did a practice run of our topic as well as a live reading. I was Mephistopheles and Steffi got to be Faustus. Mephistopheles is the best part, because I got to play both sides and remain morally ambiguous. Steffi got to do all the fun stuff, but I got to be deadpan with her at the same time. There was a scene where I entered in a ring of fire, and the girls added the effects by waving flashlights around me. When Steffi asked me to appear as a Franciscan Friar, I just pulled my hoodie over my eyes and lowered my voice for good measure.

Later, we spoke about the play in its own right. Our main focus, and the overarching question Mr. Stanislav gave us, was the role of Magic in the mundane of the story.

"I feel like Faustus was more than just bored. I think he just wanted to play God."

"Good, but I think he also knew of his impending death and wanted a way to circumvent it. So he studied magic to gain immortality as well."

"So, Lani. Anything you want to say?"

"I…think he might have been roped into it," I made up a statement. "I feel the devils were controlling him in his subconscious and he had no way to predict what he may have wanted when he made the deal."

Steffi paused. "Interesting you reached that conclusion. Adds a new aura to the idea of fatalism in the play."

Nobody brought up you-know-who. The session was fun.

Steffi talked to me before Mom came. She was fangirling like crazy over the new Sailor in town.

"Did you see it? Did you see it? You are the one who is as big a fan as I am. But you were right there, so you saw it, right?"

"Yeah. My mind was blown when I realized _Sailor Moon_ might be real, and there could be a new generation looking out for us. That one girl was so brave!"

"I am going to try my hand at a manga with her."

"Really?"

"I do not think there is a manga license…yet. The 'Sailor' part may land me in hot water, but I can circumvent that by saying she is an original creation, as long as I give an inspired by…credit. I need a name for her, though. You were there, did you catch one?"

I told her as much as I could without blowing my cover. "No, I could not make one out. I have an idea for a name if you want to keep your story fictional, though. In Hawaii we had a goddess who might fit. Her name was Haumea, the mother of the world. She created life, like volcanoes breed fertile soil."

"Alright. Sailor Haumea it is. This is going to rock! At last, I have an idea and it is going to rock!"

She may not have been a divine spirit, but she was my friend. I had no idea how to get her blessed, but now I had a manga author in case I needed a hiding spot in twenty years.

* * *

Ganymede and I had arranged for afterschool meetings on Wednesdays as well as Sunday training at least once a month for now. I had told my parents he was teaching assistant for math class, so they did not mind taking me there. Dad gave his usual "sure, whatever" response. Mom was a bit more skeptical, but as soon as I elaborated which teacher and assistant, she agreed to let me go. Ganymede called me almost first thing Sunday. "Training begins now. I'll pick you up in a bit."

An hour later, I was taken to Ganymede's house by my dad. Reasoning with my dad is great sometimes, but I fear he may be a bit _too_ lenient at other times. When I walked into the house and saw Ganymede, he sat in a lotus position in his living room, legs crossed with his calves touching his thighs.

"Let us go over the rules. The Senshi created a moral code during their time away from Earth. First: If you are in uniform, you are not Leilani Kane anymore. You must only be addressed as and respond to the title Sailor Haumea.

"Second: Do not kill anyone! No matter how much they deserve it. As a fighter for justice and peace, you are to set an example. If they are deemed a serious threat while alive, give them to the children of the Senshi. We can decide what to do then.

"And Third: No matter what, never say who you are. Do whatever tactics you can to avoid press conferences and celebrity status. You are not a rock star, you are a protector. And you are responsible for setting an example by not gloating at all. You can let your fandom soar, but don't gloat in it."

I nodded in understanding.

"So about that resume you sent," Ganymede continued. "It seems pretty promising. It says you play guitar. We could actually make use of that. Bring it next time. And it also says you are a good student but not good with people. Your training should get you on track to fix that. Alright, it seems like we could shape you into something great."

I smiled. I was glad at least someone had confidence in me. "Oh," I remembered the app. "Download the Tracker app on your phone. I told my dad—without giving myself away, of course—to make something that could help us find the other Senshi."

Ganymede said he'd look into it in just a moment, but the important part was the training for the day.

"Now the physical part begins. I know it's pretty painful the first few times, but we are going to test your powers now. So I need you to transform. I'm sorry, but this is the best way to do it."

I did as was told and transformed. The pain was unbearable, but since I had already done it once, I felt less agonized than before. When I was done, I gave the thumbs-up, indicating I was ready for the next step.

* * *

He took me to the next room. He pulled a lever on the wall, and his china cabinet on the next wall opened up to reveal my target practice. Behind the cabinet was a corridor about three feet into the wall. It had walls lined with brick and bulletproof glass, with a practice dummy at the center. The dummy itself was little more than a punching bag with a rook chess piece on the front. It seemed tacky, but whatever helped me improve, I guess.

"Your Flame Rod—that is the official name for your weapon as of right now because I just called it that-is capable of channeling your energy, and it will release attacks based on your emotions. I have devised this test to see what different moves you are capable of. Try thinking a few thoughts, happy, angry, etc. and show me what you got!"

I unleashed a flurry of moves as I got my mood to swing. I recalled moments in my life I thought would be appropriate for the attacks I wanted. A happy memory triggered my standard lava. Anger made fiery rocks rain on my enemies. Sadness made runnier, but slow lava coat the floor. Anger unleashed a standard fireball. All the moves hit their target and delivered a glorious display.

He dropped another dummy after my brilliant performance had ended. "What I'm really interested in is on your forehead. You probably noticed you are wearing the traditional tiara of a Sailor. But what's unique about yours is the gem at the center."

I felt my forehead. Sure enough, it was a circular cut gemstone. The ones in the show were small shards.

"I do not want you to throw it, but I wonder if you can access a new ability with it. Point to your forehead and try to envision your powers radiating from that gem."

I pointed and focused. Hard. I thought about making contact with the dummy. I felt my entire body flaring up, but also a thick pang in my stomach. And I felt the beam, too. It charged and made my forehead tingle as my knees buckled. The minute the beam was about to let go, I collapsed to my knees and lost focus because I think I must have used too much energy. A blast did radiate from my forehead, but it came out as a circular burst rather than a full laser, igniting the whole target range. Ganymede broke out the fire extinguisher.

"…Keep focusing, kid. Try to cancel out distractions," he advised as he put out the fire.

Before I could make my second attempt, I heard a noise outside. We both went to the front window and looked. It was a man on horseback, clad in white armor, holding a mace. He had begun to pound at the door. He shouted through the door at me. "The White Knight will have his way, Senshi. The Chessmaster moves his Knight to capture the queen."

Ganymede shook his head. "It is one of the Chessmaster's minions. His Pawn Bearers are from other planets, but this one looks like a New Mexican. This one is a bit stronger than the last one, but he should not be too difficult for you. Go on, Haumea. Do your thing!"

I walked outside first, to ensure I didn't burn Ganymede's house down. I tapped my rod and spun it around. I decided on a few names for my attacks on the spot. "Lava Burst!" I shouted at the heavens. It deflected off the White Knight's shield. I tried a multitude of other tricks, but he seemed to counter all of them.

Ganymede called me through the rod. "Alright. I would not recommend this under normal circumstances, but…use your laser!" He retreated to the basement.

I pointed at the gem on my forehead. It heated up at the center of my head, but the pain received was minimal. At least, it was far milder than the actual transformation. I held that pose for so long, I was wondering if I was doing something wrong. But I still just stood there, waiting for something to happen. At last, a red beam shot from my forehead, within my whole essence, and hit the target, catching the White Knight and his horse off guard. The White Knight fell like a cinderblock from a construction girder as the horse trotted off. I myself was blown back a bit after that. The White Knight's armor began to fade revealing a man in a black jumpsuit. I didn't recognize the face. But I felt I had to get out of there before the police came.

* * *

I ran downstairs to inform my mentor of the good news. "I did it, Ganymede. I got a laser out. Your test worked! The White Knight has been apprehended."

Ganymede nodded in approval but otherwise ignored me. He was more focused on his _cell phone…_

"Good news, Haumea," Ganymede motioned towards me. The phone was blinking as Ganymede moved the screen towards me. A giant red dot was emanating waves on the map from the location of Vancouver, British Columbia. "You are going to Canada."

"Sounds great," I said. "But how am I going to get all the way there from here?"

He took me back outside, looking around to see if the White Knight was gone. "No problem. I talked with my ally Rhea, daughter of Saturn, and she made something for you. I told her urgent delivery and it should be arriving right…now!"

All of a sudden, a burst of fire erupted as a fiery red chariot rode into my view. It was ornately cut and painted to resemble the blazing fire coming from its wheels. Pulling the chariot were two golden horses with manes and tales on fire. They pranced and whickered in the light before coming to a screeching halt.

My mouth and eyes widened in awe. A beautiful chariot, forged by the Senshi and radiating a brilliant fire…and it was all mine. I was at a complete loss for words upon seeing it. Ganymede continued, "This your ride across long distances. Nothing goes faster across land or sky than the Star Chariot. It can fit a large party of up to twelve, but only Sailor Haumea can drive it."

One of the horses whinnied. "Oh, and I named the horses after your planet's moons. They are Hi'iaka and Namaka." They were beautiful. I approached the one on the right—I believe she was Namaka. I motioned to stroke her hair, tantalized by the glowing fire. "Go ahead," he assured. "They'll let you touch them. Your powers keep you from being burned." I stroked her hair with the tip of my index finger. It felt even softer than cotton and finer than human hair, despite having the appearance of a raging fire.

"Ready?" Ganymede looked impatient.

I took a deep breath and nodded. I had no idea how to drive this thing, but I felt like maybe Sailor Haumea could learn. I climbed into the driver's seat and grabbed hold of the reins, with Ganymede taking my side. I whipped the reins just once, and the horses dashed away at top speeds, the whole chariot aglow. I held tighter and tighter while we gained speed. We soon went so fast that I felt the horses leaving the ground and flying off into the sky. As we took off, the fire in back intensified and we flew into the sky, jetting across the night like a shooting star.

No turning back now, I thought. It's time to be a hero, with or without training.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: Sedna Makes a Splash!**_

We pulled into a small fishing dock near Vancouver before I had a chance to process what I was doing. Our ride covered over three thousand miles in mere minutes. What should have sent our skin flaying from our bodies was mitigated by a flame aura shielding us from the heavy air force. Overall, I was impressed. I was not even driving age and had almost no experience with animals, but I still kept my horses under control.

Now, though, I had to face my biggest challenge yet as a Sailor Senshi: Landing a moving vehicle! It was one thing to start the chariot, but I was unsure how to land it without either drawing attention or ending my life. I pulled the reigns in close to my body, hoping it would signal the horses to slow down. They reared back a bit, but then sped up when we hit the ground with a loud bump and a fireball erupting at my rear. I did not crash upon landing, however, so I felt like I was at least doing something right.

I parked in a back lot, just outside a building next to their dumpster. The skid marks I left were on fire. Those who were present on the street stared in my direction and gave me passing glances, but either they had not heard the news from Santa Fe or assumed it was not the same girl. Ganymede said the flame would die down if idle, so we would not leave a trace while we did our duty. "I will modify your wand later so you can signal for it," he told me as we came to a halt. I dismounted and Ganymede followed suit, encouraging me to wrap my cape around for warmth.

When my Sailor powers wore off, Ganymede pulled out a fake badge. "We do not have any spies stationed in Canada, so we are just going to wing it until I send for someone. Here's how it goes. If anyone asks, I am a geologic surveyor and you are my niece accompanying me on a business trip. We are going into…" He focused his radar and pointed to a hut directly right of us, "…that house because someone owning it traced the gem to us and said it was an undiscovered mineral. Got it?"

I said nothing but gave him the thumbs up.

* * *

We knocked at the door. A young girl about my age answered. In the brief moment I saw her, I still noticed a good deal of her appearance. Her skin complexion was dark, but lighter than mine. Her face brought out her eyes, which were small and rounded, like two small pearls with brown stones at the center. Her dark hair sported two small braids at either temple. She wore conservative clothing, with what she had on resembling a white poncho with tassels at the bottom, as well as beaded moccasins with baggy sweatpants under her robe.

"Excuse me. I do not recognize you. I am not interested in anything you are selling, so please get off my door."

"We are not selling anything." Ganymede gave the "geologic survey" spiel he gave me and we came in.

"Odd. I was just about to send this message to a geologic survey. I got a pen today that glowed and I had no idea why it would do that. I did not call for anyone yet, but it must be radioactive or something. Come on and take a look!"

We went into a small eat-in kitchen at the center of the house. It had several fur prints on the wall as well as a pair of snowshoes hanging above the center of the room. At the forefront was a small table, and on the wall above its head was a strange masthead. It looked like some sort of mermaid, but with no visible arms—so more of a fish with a woman's head. Perched above the woman was a raven.

The girl rolled her totem containing her stone towards us. It was attached to a ballpoint pen. Unlike my more stylized Flame Rod, this device was made to not draw attention to anyone.

"Have you clicked it yet?" Ganymede asked as he picked it up.

"No. Every time I try, it glows so bright I think I may go blind. So I do not bother."

"That is expected," replied Ganymede. "I am going to take this to the back and inspect it. Lani, try warming her up a bit."

As Ganymede inspected the pen, I sat down for a little confab with our new recruit. I introduced myself to her and we shook hands to confirm common ground. I had to know as much as possible so I could gain insight on ways to train her. I started the conversation with the classic "Tell us a little about yourself," adding "I do not need your whole life story, just some important information I should know. Give me your name, age, interests, etc."

"My name is Apaay Cayuk, and I am fifteen, but I turn sixteen in December. I was born in Nunavut, but I moved here when I was younger because Dad wanted to be more near the coastline of the Pacific. He believed the large ocean to have special powers. So I have lived in Vancouver for a while and I generally like it here. Even the famous Canadian Winters do not bother me. As you can see by our décor and mantelpiece, I am a member of Inuit Nation. But the Cayuks are modern Inuit. We do not live in igloos or wear fur boots all the time, thank you very much!" She harshened her tone on that last part. "But we do buy seal meat from hunters and kayak. Dad always wanted to have a cultural integration, as he believed both our old Inuit traditions and modern Canada can and should integrate to further our lives best."

"I live here with now my older brother Sauri and my younger brother Oki. My mother died when I was three and my father left on some spiritual journey about two years ago. Sauri is the man of the house. He fishes to earn a living. As for me, I have been in and out of schools a few times because I think I learn best outside of school. I do all of my own teaching and work at a pace that fits me best. Right now, I just look at stars and Sauri filled out papers to homeschool me for now."

She let out a deep sigh. Then, she continued, holding the fish woman. "This statuette serves as a motivator for me to do my best after Dad left. She is of my patron goddess, Sedna. Sedna was sheltered by her own father, but did not let anyone tell her what to do. When she met a man her father did not approve of, she married him anyway. They set out to elope in a canoe offshore, but Sedna's father saw this and cast a storm to throw her and her beloved overboard. In spite of being thrown overboard and losing her beloved, she held on to that canoe until her fingers froze and detached from her body. This is how the blubbered mammals like seals and whales came to be; they spawned from her fingers. So, that is what I want I want to hold on until the gods say I cannot hold on anymore, and something shall come from my fall when I do have to let go."

"I see." Sedna was to her what the Sailors were to me. "That sounds pretty deep. But what other sorts of stuff are you interested in? What do you do in your free time?"

"I am interested in basically all sciences…except anatomy. That never really grabbed me. I have appreciated marine biology, in large part because of my culture. I was walking down by the pier just last week to observe the birds and grey seals. I gave them all names and know exactly what kinds of fish they like to eat. It is as though they recognize me as their surrogate mother. I have made a geologic map of Canada. I even built my own telescope and study astronomy right now. I am very much a newcomer, but I have been getting interested in my solar system. My best writing came from the analysis of Pluto's orbit and how it may affect the objects beyond Pluto. You can read my physics paper if you want. Say, are you American by any chance?"

"Yes. I am."

"I was actually just about to get a student visa. I am planning on going there to study astronomy. I may not like traditional education, but I think if I travel at least I could like it better in that country."

"Cool. It is great that we have a smart person on the team. Your knowledge could create new gadgets for us to use."

"Et langues aussi. J'aime langues beaucoup," Apaay added. It sounded French, but I do not speak French, so I had to ask clarification.

I scowled in confusion. "What?"

"That is my other interest. I am good with language. As a Canadian, I already know the requisite English, French, and Inuktitut. But I also explore Vancouver and hear many different languages downtown. I was able to learn Spanish and Russian through natural absorption by listening to people on the streets. This one time on the bus I heard two guys speaking in Chinese, and I knew just enough to keep up with their conversation. When they got off, I said, 'Goodbye, and congratulations on your sister's wedding'."

"That could be useful where we are going," I said. "Since we do a global survey, we would need a translator to help us at times."

Sedna stared at me with serious intent. "So, why are you here talking to me, Lani?"

I looked deep into my brain for a response. I had to tell her the truth, but I could not find the exact words for it.

"…Alright," I let out a deep breath. "We are not really a geological survey. You probably would never believe this, but have you ever heard of that corny _Sailor Moon_ anime?"

Apaay scowled. "No. I do not really watch that much TV."

"Well…" I struggled to find the right words. "This will definitely sound crazy, but there is a group of magical space warriors who wear fancy clothes and fight monsters. They derive their power from nearby celestial bodies. And you and I are part of a new expansion to Kuiper Belt objects. We rule over the domains furthest from the sun."

Apaay laughed, almost falling from her chair. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. You should talk to Oki. He's a nerd like that."

"It sounds silly when I say it, but this is true. There is a dangerous being somewhere in the world right now called the Chessmaster, who has accumulated enough power in a short amount of time to threaten every being on the planet. And this guy is smart. He is always one step ahead of our observers on Earth. And we need smart people like you to help us stop him and his cronies."

A young boy rushed from upstairs, holding a thick binder of papers in his hand. "Apaay," he called out. "Do you want to read the next chapter? I just had a spark of imagination!" He stopped and deflected his gaze towards me. "Who is this? You never told me you had friends."

Apaay introduced us. "Oki, this is Lani. Lani, this is Oki. Oki has been in the works publishing a revision of an Inuit legend."

"I have almost gotten done with the first draft. I do not think I ever saw Lani around here before. How did you two meet?"

"Lani is trying to induct me into some cult or something. I do not really know if I am interested but…"

I smacked my forehead. "It is not a cult! I will prove it to you." I readied my Rod and was set to turn it on before I heard the sound of the worst-case scenario come to us.

There was a burst of noise at the front window, and I heard a body hit the ground with a resounding thud. I ran over and Ganymede was on the floor. The pen was gone.

Apaay and I lifted Ganymede back to his feet. I did not need to know what happened, but Ganymede recounted the story anyway. "The Pawn Bearer found us. I went easy on him because I saw he had a knife. But oh, that Chessmaster is a clever one. I should have known he would find us. I may be a space being born on Jupiter, but ultimately I am still a man, so I was no match for a Pawn Bearer. It is now up to you, Lani. You have to be the one to grab our pen to create your next ally. Prove you are the leader of a new generation of heroes."

It was go time, I thought. Everything else was practice. Time to get serious.

I walked outside and transformed yet again. "Haumea Power, Make Up!"

* * *

When I landed, I noticed Apaay and Oki standing in their front door. They just gawked at me, trying to comprehend the image in front of them.

"You probably should not have seen that," I signaled to Oki. "I am not supposed to expose my Sailor form to anyone."

Oki made the zipped lips gesture at me and ran off upstairs.

Apaay tiptoed towards me. She blushed and cupped a hand over her mouth, stifling a giggle. "You are saying that I shall fight space bandits looking like _That?_ What crazy loonie would walk around in ninja cheerleader spirit dancer garb and expect to be taken seriously? Plus, that cape with that skirt? Really?! This whole setup is getting sillier by the minute! _"_

"First of all, this is combat gear. The skirt is short enough for a good kick. And second of all, you might not look just like me because your powers are drawn from a different dwarf planet. Different powers means your uniform will resemble powers from your planet. I guess you will not wear a cape, though. In fact, I think the cape indicates leadership and it is only my accessory." I spun around at the thief. "But we have to get that pen first."

As the Pawn Bearer made an escape, I had a wacky idea. In the _Sailor Moon_ TV show, I remembered the Sailors' power was not necessarily bound to their wands. Those were mostly used to transform, and the rest came from their bodies. It may have been crazy, but in order to execute it, I looked down to find my ace in the hole. While many normal people may have seen just dirt beneath them, I looked beyond the dirt into the earth's mantle. Vancouver was also near what was called the "Ring of Fire", where all the volcanoes were. Given the unpredictability of super volcanoes in the region and the fact I was still a rookie, I would either stop the Pawn Bearer dead in his tracks or destroy a major coastal city in one fell swoop, but it was worth the gamble to gain a new teammate.

I pressed my palm to the rocky earth beneath me. I felt the warmth of the magma underneath and whispered for a fissure to open. Sure enough, red ooze gushed from the dirt close to me as the area began to crack, emitting noxious fumes from their nasty bubbles. Cracks spider-webbed across the area, but at the center of it all was my target. The Pawn Bearer was trapped.

For my next trick, I placed my forefinger on the ground. A bright yellow circle formed beneath it, ready to boil. I directed my finger over to the stranded Pawn Bearer, and the circle moved with me. I pointed my finger and wiggled it when it was under him. I clenched a fist and I heard the ground begin to crack. As I released my grip, a pillar of molten rock shot from the ground onto the Pawn Bearer's glove. He wrenched his hand back, and the pen flew backwards from his grip.

"Catch!" I shouted at Apaay.

Apaay's reflexes were well refined. She caught the pen using only three fingers.

"Now you have to transform, Apaay. Do not question it. Just do it."

"I do not know what to say. Do I have to call upon some special power to activate this thing?"

"Shout to your hero, then. She is as good an option as anyone else. Click the pen and call out 'Sedna Power, Make Up'."

"N-n-no! I cannot do this. I do not think I am the right one. It will probably burn me anyway."

"It only hurts for a second. But you have to do this, Apaay! This may sound crazy, but it is your destiny! You just got to think it will be all worth it in the end."

Apaay closed her eyes and gulped before clicking the pen.

"Sedna Power, Make Up!"

* * *

At last, I got to see what a transformation looked like from an outsider's perspective. It didn't show the details of putting on clothing like the show. Instead, Apaay erupted into a pillar of light as she ascended. Her body details faded as she became entirely bathed in the light. She lurched backwards, almost touching her heels to her head. While she did not bring herself to scream, I could make out a facial expression which made it clear she was in great pain.

When Apaay rose, I saw a symbol flash from her pen and blink in front of my eyes before it faded. It was hard to describe, but it was in two parts. It featured what looked like a sickle the bottom, as well as a cross at the top with a rounded ball character off to its side. To me, it resembled a seal playing with a beach ball. I interpreted this as a symbol of her dwarf planet.

It was interesting, but made me feel disappointed I never could see my own symbol.

Just as Ganymede had assured me, it took a maximum of ten seconds before the light faded and Apaay Cayuk came falling down as a Sailor Senshi. She fell to her knees, hung her head down, slumped her shoulders and stayed in this position for about a minute before Ganymede explained it all to her.

When Apaay touched down, I was surprised by the stone's choice of costume. I knew each Sailor looked different, but Apaay's suit was a radical shift. She had a striped skirt and sleeves like mine and boots resembling mine, but her color palette and general structure looked nothing like my outfit. While her bodice was tan, her main color seemed to be forest green on her middy-collar, skirt, boots and gauntlets. This was in contrast to how my costume had a dark red collar, but was otherwise a solid crimson. Her accent color was seafoam green, with a stripe at her skirt and boots as well as the color of her puffed sleeves, but also the main color of her gloves. Her hair, once braided, was now worn down over her shoulders and rippled from her head in a manner reminiscent of ocean waves. Unlike me, her tiara was silver instead of gold. The gem at the center was circular like mine, although it was white. This struck me as odd because white appeared nowhere else in her ensemble. Though who am I to complain? I do not even know who made these costumes. But what surprised me the most were those green gloves happened to be fingerless. I knew in the show sometimes the uniforms were not identical in structure or color, but I had never seen gloves be any different than the elbow-length, finger covering opera gloves used in the show.

Apaay looked dazed at first. After a few seconds on her knees, she stood up to inspect herself. First, she looked over her shoulder and did a small jump with a backwards kick like a ballet dancer would. "I certainly feel different," she observed. Next, she did a few twirls, checked herself in a nearby window display, and raised her hands in the shape of an X. "And I look kind of cute, I guess," she said, batting her hair away over her shoulders. After this assessment, she asked "But why do I look different? What exactly am I now?"

Ganymede smiled in recognition. "It just so happens one of the dwarf planets we were set on colonizing was named after your patroness Sedna. So congratulations, Apaay! You are now Sailor Sedna, Guardian of the Ocean."

The newly dubbed Sailor Sedna's eyes opened wide. She studied her gloves, wiggled her exposed fingers a few times, and her face lit up. "Yes. Like Sedna's fingers became the sea animals. It all makes sense. I am Sedna! I am Sedna!" She was much happier than me when I first transformed. "But...how do you know I guard the ocean?"

"Is it not obvious?" was Ganymede's only answer.

"There's no time to celebrate," I interrupted. "We need to catch the Pawn Bearer now, before he does any more damage!" I saw him already looking around the lava web, plotting an escape.

Sedna looked dazed. "What am I supposed to do?" she called out.

"I would suggest cooling down the lava or tripping the Pawn Bearer in something else. Just shout out what you want to do and it will happen."

Sedna slid across the ground, shouting something about a wave of water energy. Sure enough, there was a minor spurt of water which shot from the ground. After a few seconds, this spurt began to erupt and soon it was gushing about a gallon a minute. Wasting no time, she hopped on the spring and rode it like a wave, holding her arms out as though she were surfing without a board. As she rode across my lava, it cooled and formed burning rock. This mitigated the fumes, meaning the citizens of Vancouver no longer posed a risk of asphyxiation. A small splash of water got on my lips. It tasted salty.

The Pawn Bearer already saw an opening in my lava field and tried to escape. But Sedna was faster. Sedna poised herself and outstretched an arm. The Pawn Bearer stopped as Sedna yelled "Freeze!" and a column of ice erupted and attached to his waist, stopping him in place. She jumped backwards on her tiptoes, blushing and covering her mouth. "Oops! I did not meant that literally. Sorry!"

Ganymede slow clapped from behind me. "Brava, Sedna! You caught on pretty quick. No need to be sorry, there. You will make an excellent Senshi."

* * *

Sedna applauded, but then seemed a little dizzy. She was so exhausted from the confrontation, she looked like she was about to faint. When she started to lose balance, I gave her a cooldown hug to soothe her racing nerves. She hugged back without hesitation.

"By the way," she said mid-hug, "I could not quite understand your Sailor name when you called it out. What was it again?"

"Haumea."

"Haumea. That is…interesting." Sedna broke contact and calmed down. "I don't know her, but that is a lovely name." She looked at her bared fingers again before continuing. "This is all beyond science. The body transforming and how I suddenly got taller with heightened reflexes just does not follow any natural laws!"

I just smiled. "Maybe your fancy science can still quantify this if you apply it hard enough."

We laughed. But Sedna still said she'd look into it first thing. "The pain may be excruciating," she told me, "but to become Sedna…it is all worth it!"

I was glad she had such tolerance and was willing to help us.

All of a sudden, lights turned on all across the village. They knew what went on. We had a split second to run. So we did.

"Sorry, but you are not supposed to reveal yourself." I pushed Sedna into her house before she had a chance to say anything. "We'll keep in touch, but I have to run. Bye!" Sedna waved as I slammed the door.

My rod vibrated. I checked Tracker and saw a new blip on the radar. Dad had programmed the app for an even longer range than I thought, because…

"It is in Costa Rica," Ganymede confirmed. "Titania, daughter of Venus, is stationed there. I can text her about it."

He typed away on his keypad. Within mere moments, he got a response. This new Sailor was named Kristina Malos. Miss Malos seemed uncontrollable and impulsive, but Titania assured she would try her best to train the new Sailor. And that was all we heard. No background, no further personality.

"Oh," said Ganymede. "I fixed your wand to call the chariot. Press the button right underneath the transformation trigger."

I signaled for the chariot, mounted it, and headed back home. This was going to be a long few months.

 **Footnote:** The Princesses of Uranus and Neptune did not have children for obvious reasons. Venus and Mercury named their children after the moons of those respective planets to compensate for not having any moons of their own


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: Homecoming of the Red Death**_

The next few weeks or so were devoted to training Apaay and I. Ganymede sent his sister Io to Vancouver so Sedna could get a mentor of her own.

Over the course of training, Ganymede noticed something we had done the original Senshi could not. "The Senshi fighting style was fire-by-rank. They had control but point-and-shoot was their strategy. What you did now was immerse yourself in your element and channel it. I've never seen that before! I was training you all wrong. I guess in twenty years, the Senshi must be looking for excitement and set up their new magic to be used this way."

We remained in touch through Facebook, using a group setting disguised as a "cosplay group". We even did a few photoshoots in-character for the group to make the lie even more convincing. To my surprise, it worked as nobody called it into question. I guess we did put on some inches when we transformed, and people could not get a good look enough to question our faces when we were saving them, so for now it made some sense.

Ganymede even dug up some dirt on the Chessmaster. "He lives in Santa Fe. That much we could gather. My group was able to trace his energies and decided he would not go through all this trouble to send troops unless he lived near the new Sailor Haumea. However, he has a castle in space that we're looking for now."

"Then what would he be doing in Santa Fe?" I asked.

"Undercover. He knows at least that you're here. He was searching for the Rod when it fell, probably so he could destroy it and prevent the new Senshi from uniting. He spent most of his energies fighting us in space, but launched his plan in motion the day you became Sailor Haumea."

I brought in my guitar for training the next week at Ganymede's suggestion. He picked it up, looked it over for a minute, played a warmup chord, and then sprinkled pink dust all over it.

"Now play something and see what happens."

I tuned my strings and played the first song I learned, which was appropriately named "Acoustic Guitar". I had learned to play right-handed even though I was a leftie. My instructor insisted it was easier that way. As I played, the guitar began to become hotter until it glowed bright red. As I plucked the E-string, a white beam of light shot from the neck and hit the wall, creating a bright explosion and raining rocks and sparks from the impact zone.

Ganymede laughed. "I call it _Music as a Weapon._ Touch the Flame Rod to it and you can access the powers of a flame/sonic cannon disguised as an ordinary instrument using my name as the password. It's a genius plan."

I touched the rod to the instrument and my guitar returned to normal. Something I love just got even better.

* * *

Sedna's tiara power was discovered to be Animal Control. She had found this out when Io took her to the docks and she had tamed a sea lion with it. She tapped her finger to her head and a whole pod came up from the water. When she discovered an injured pup, she also found her knack for healing water. She channeled some nearby water, rubbed her hands to purify it, and the pup's cut was relieved. "I guess it's as good a time as any to study nursing," she laughed.

Still, all eyes were on Kristina, who had been dubbed "Sailor Eris." Eris' powers were of lightning, much like Ganymede's own mother Jupiter, but Eris had powers based on static electricity and even ball lightning as well. Titania had said Eris was too strong for her own good, and broke off training. She was on the run and making her way up to the USA.

"She was ecstatic about her abilities," Titania told us on group chat. "But said she wanted them for her own gains and didn't need to be attached to anyone. So she shocked her trainer and ran off! The Nerve!"

"Eris may be somewhat of a threat," Ganymede warned, "but right now the Chessmaster is an even bigger one. It will be interesting to see what will happen if the two ever do meet. In the meantime, all our spies will be ready for her."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to relax. I wasn't so sure I would be.

All things considered, school was going well. First quarter hadn't ended yet, but I did get an A on the _Faustus_ unit, and I can tell you how I did it. Mr. Stanislav did something creative instead of a test. He graded us on a Socratic Seminar, where we all discuss a topic together seated in a circle and try to tie the broader themes to our learning. We took turns by tossing the dreaded apple to indicate who was speaking. When we passed the apple, we had to come up with our own question for the other person to move the discussion forward.

When I got the apple, I received a loaded question. "So, Lani," Heather Hicks, who passed me the apple asked, "Do you feel Faustus gained from his bargain, even if he goes to Hell at the end?"

I sort of remembered the story, but didn't have anything in my notes. I had to improvise. "OK, I got this. Faustus DID learn, and his actions were justified. Sure, he sold his soul for selfish reasons. But while he did terrible things, he learned about his own humanity and observed that of others. In serving Mephistopheles, he learned there is no true good or bad, you have to make the call yourself on which is which. And most true people are destructive because they genuinely can't make that call. You just got to think of the Earth as a peanut M&M. Bright and crispy on the outside; dark and full of nuts on the inside. And Faustus was a rational nut."

Mr. Stanislav laughed. Everyone else gave me a slow clap. I resisted the urge to spike the apple in victory after my witty comment. For the first time in a while, I felt like I was …liked. That I was appreciated and admired. I was happy at this realization and smiled.

Roy in particular started to become more interested in me. He kept scanning me with his eyes and offering me favors. Roy also kept looking at his phone. "You know about Sailor Haumea, right? The vigilante."

Startled, I nodded. How did he know? Did he?

"She's pretty neat. Just when you think superheroes are dead, one comes up from nowhere."

I hid my panic behind my head. I had another super fan and he was a borderline stalker, too.

"She's pretty reclusive, relying on a PR guy to do all her press coverage. Do you know her, by any chance?"

I wasn't sure how to answer that. "I…Know someone who does."

"Good. Well, if you talk to them again, say I'm a fan and I want to know where she's from and why she's helping us now of all times."

How specific and personal. He came the closest to blowing my cover, but I thought my act was enough to divert him from putting the pieces together.

* * *

A few days later, Roy asked me out.

The Saturday before Homecoming Week was Open Mic Night. It was a student musical showcase in a non-competitive manner, meant to liven spirits before the big week. Anyone who wanted to perform was welcome, but they had to reserve a spot on the sign-up queue when they walked in. I was so shy and couldn't handle crowds, so I didn't plan on going at first. But Dad insisted I go, saying "Don't let those $1k a year lessons go to waste. You play great. Just get out there and show 'em your skills."

Roy brought his band Edge of Darkness to the show, and they occupied the spot on the schedule immediately before me. Roy sang and played bass, with two tall guys I didn't recognize backing him up. I didn't listen to a lot of punk rock, but they tore up the stage with a lot of energy and Roy hopped around the stage in a weird way. For anyone else, it would be laughable, but he owned it. They put on an impressive set of three original songs, and received the loudest applause of the night.

"Thank you all. But before we bring on the next act, I have something to say to her." He set aside his bass. His drummer bent to his feet and pulled out some flowers, passing them to Roy.

I knew what he was going to say before he even said it. "Leilani Kane, will you go to Homecoming with me?"

The mere thought made me shudder in my skin. Homecoming? Really? Having to get dressed up and be in a crowd with annoying music. But whatever. All eyes were on me, so I was trapped. I couldn't say no.

I took my guitar, walked up to the stage, and accepted Roy's gift. He leaned over and kissed me. On the cheek. For about a second. The crowd cheered and I felt the blood rushing to my face. I was left in a daze for a short while as the band was played off the stage.

"Um…it'll be hard to follow that up," I spoke up as my set began. "But I will give it my best shot. I never performed in front of a crowd today, but I have just one song I wanted to sing. So…here ya go."

All things considered, my performance was not a total embarrassment. Joseph Fink's "These and More than These" was apparently a popular tune, because they started clapping along right before the middle-eight. My kitty-cat voice couldn't hit high notes, but that was okay because most of the class was singing along anyway.

When it was over, I got a decent sized applause of my own. My throat began to close and my eyes turned watery. A tiny squeak of "thank you" into the mic was all I could get out.

When I walked out to wait for Mom, I caught Steffi, who ran over squealing at me. "Congratulations! He did it! I thought he'd come around, but that was incredible! "She squeezed me super tight and almost knocked me down in her excitement. "You have to tell me if anything happens next."

I made no promises but nodded my head in understanding.

* * *

The following Monday, Steffi and I were talking about my growing relationship with Roy.

"So…it's official, right?" she asked.

"I guess. He invited me to his house yesterday so he could know me better. Called it a 'First Test' before Homecoming."

"Oh, my goodness! Did you two…?"

"Ew! No! We just sat down and talked and he showed me his house."

I told her my entire encounter with the man himself. Roy already had a driver's license and a Mercedes, so he drove to pick me up. He lived in the biggest house I have ever seen, with three levels and a foyer as big as my own home. He didn't talk about himself, trying to divert the discussion more to me than him.

I did learn some things about him. He got all his money because his parents are both doctors. His dad was also a gourmet chef, and used us as guinea pigs for his new recipes, like his crock pot chicken Florentine. Roy was accomplished himself, having his own awards closet. He didn't brag too much, but looking at it gave me enough of an impression. He had about twenty trophies for basketball, tennis, chess, music, and even one for quidditch. Like his parents, he wanted to be a doctor, but was considering studying medicine in Germany because of high standards in the States. He spoke fluent German, Russian, and Japanese, and had already secured a summer study program in Germany to decide if that was his true path.

"Is there anything he can't do?" Steffi wondered.

"He can't dance and he can't cook. But that's about it."

All we did was play NBA 2K15 and sample his dad's cooking. I sucked at 2K but he laughed and gave me credit for trying. And…nothing crazy happened whatsoever. He kissed me on the forehead, though. It seemed like he wanted to go for the lips, but was too cautious to try for it.

Steffi stood in silence as she absorbed my story. A smile crept across her face. She reared back her head to let loose a primal scream, but I cupped her mouth beforehand so nobody heard.

"Do you know how lucky you are?!"

"I am?"

"Yes! You are lucky enough to have the most popular kid in our grade as your boyfriend!"

My eyes widened as the realization hit. Nobody ever gave me the time of day before, and here I was dating a spoiled rich guy without even trying. I had no proper training with guys yet, so I had many questions. What do boys like? How do boys approach romance? What did Roy like…about me? The only boy who ever expressed interest in me was Jonny Slattery in eighth grade. I found out the hard way he just used me to buy him fruit snacks at lunch. But Roy…there was something different about him. He did seem to like me as more than an ATM, though I don't know what he saw in me, the girl with her hoodie over her eyes hiding from the world behind a manga cover. Maybe he was shooting low and using me as practice for someone else.

"It'll be okay," Steffi said as though reading my mind. "You made it this far by being yourself, so keeping it up just a little longer won't hurt. And don't worry about what he likes. He likes you above anything. Be proud of that!"

We still had five minutes, so we started the walk to Mr. Stanislav's. "You should kiss him first," she blurted out just before we got there.

"Why?"

"Because you'll surprise him. He already likes you, so you'll make him feel better than if he does it first. Just find the right moment and strike! Maybe even this weekend."

I nodded but felt my heart race at the thought. I still had no idea how to approach this.

* * *

I knew something would go down that night. Every Magical Girl show ever had a big attack at party night. I got myself into a bit of a panic that weekend as I contemplated what the Chessmaster would do. I'm right where he wants me, I thought. What can I do? I haven't been Sailor Haumea long, so what's he planning here? But if I was a Sailor, this is what was expected of me. Might as well suck it up and fight whatever the Chessmaster brought. I packed the Rod in a special purse just in case.

Mr. Stanislav was the faculty advisor to Student Government, so his ideas were used as the Homecoming Theme. Steffi told me his parties were the best. Last year had been _Les Miserables_ with a turntable showing the different settings of the book, including an actual sewer level for crawling through. This year was based on "Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allen Poe. He said he had a special surprise planned, but if anyone wore red, they'd get punked in a special way.

I kept this in mind as I reached for my orange dress and beige heels. Roy picked me up five minutes earlier than scheduled. He also didn't chance the Red Death; he wore a full black suit and tie. We took the usual tacky Homecoming pictures and played some more 2K. Instead of going out to dinner, Roy's Dad insisted he make something representing my homeland, Hawaiian Pork. It was just delicious!

When we got to Homecoming, it was every bit the disaster I thought it would be. It was in the gym, and they played my least favorite songs, the drink line was too long, and Roy was just talking with his friends and ignored me. I was so frustrated I wanted to leave within twenty minutes of arriving. As I covered my face in shame, I felt a slight tap on the shoulder. I turned around and serendipity struck. It was Steffi!

Steffi defied the dress code. She walked in with a hoodie, sweats and sandals, and not one staffer batted an eye. Fortunately, none of it was red either. The hoodie was green, which was our school color. Like usual, she was ecstatic and giddy. Her speech tonight was so fast, words seemed to blend and I had to listen close to make just one out.

"Oh, this is so exciting. I'm glad you brought a date. I didn't even have a date so I came with Lucy and Lara from the study group, remember? They kept nagging me to dress up, but I was SO not in the mood for that. I have a party, why stall for time? But anyway, the punch is great, try some. And I was just so happy to see you, you can't even know!"

"That's…cool. Is the _Sailor Haumea_ manga coming along?" As I diverted conversation to an area where we were both interested.

"Yeah. I was thinking of writing a chapter set at a homecoming like this. Oh, by the way, I saw your cosplay. Very accurate! How much did it cost?"

"Uh…over $150."

"Wow! Cool! Well, I'll tell some more about it to my other girls now."

Her eyes darted around the room, looking for her next target. "There's your kiss," she pointed towards Roy, filling his gold drinking goblet. "If you want it done, you better do it quick. Moments like this were set up for that to happen."

I looked for Roy but he was talking to the staffers. _Not the time,_ I decided. _Give it a wait._

* * *

11:59 and things were going off without a hitch. Steffi and her friends were talking and laughing it up. Next, the lights went out. For that split second of darkness, the entire school screamed in unison. Except me; I covered my ears and squatted in a fetal position trying to block out the noise. Then, as quickly as they went out, the lights came on blood-red. A searing red that penetrated your eyes and could drive you mad with prolonged exposure. I looked around for Roy, but he was nowhere to be found.

The red lights dimmed and focused on a new figure in the doorway at the other end of the gym. It was a smallish humanoid in a red harlequin outfit, bright and checkered, complete with the bell cap. Although it was no human. Its face was hidden by the most realistic skull mask I have ever seen. Underneath the mask, its eyes glowed red and stared around the entire room seeking their quarry. It scoured the room until it found Cynthia Quales. Of course. If anyone were to wear red against instructions, it would be the person who thought Faustus was a medical doctor, not a theological doctor. I was expecting something mild, but that was when the harlequin's neck extended and it wrapped long black tentacles around Cynthia. That was too weird. The idea and intro were cool, but there was no way they could execute this without dark magic. Sailor Time, I guess.

I hid in the bathroom to transform so nobody could see me. After I was done, I burst from the door and signaled the creature's attention. I had been practicing my intro speech like they did on the show.

"I am Sailor Haumea, Guardian of Magma and Rebirth. And in the fiery depths of Haumea's heart, you shall burn!"

All eyes were on me as I said this, including the monster's. The monster shot its dark spikes right at me. _Oh, shoot. That's right_ , I realized too late. I wore red! I may as well have painted a bullseye on my chest.

I braced for impact, but waved my Rod and shouted out for something to happen. Sure enough, rocky lava shot out and pelted the beast. It roared and reared back, dropping its prey on the spot.

It reared back with mouth open, ready to devour me. I had to think fast. I outstretched my left hand with an open palm while holding the wand with my right. I focused hard and shouted "Lava". Sure enough, it felt like my blood and essence had become lava as orange sludge spewed from my arm. After an onslaught of lava, the creature fell to the ground and its tentacles dissipated. I felt exhausted and I myself felt my knees buckle as I knelt and hung my head in guilt. Next thing that happened was the sprinklers went off, so no fumes or burns were felt on bystanders as far as I could tell.

While everyone else got drenched, I was not. I guess my heat aura was enough to keep me dry. Nonetheless, I was embarrassed. "Sorry," I stepped aside to hide away.

But nobody was angry. The next sound I heard was applause.

Steffi rushed over and gave a loving embrace, which I accepted to calm my own nerves. "I was just talking with my friend about the manga I'm writing about you. This would work great as a chapter, so I say thanks for coming. Any words for me?"

I clammed up again, once again missing the right thing to say at the right time. "I…just want you all to look out for yourselves. But if ever you need anything, Haumea's heart will warm you!" A bit wishy-washy as far as rousing speeches go, but it seemed to impress my classmates as they cheered for me. Still, nobody put two and two together and called out Leilani Kane as the true Sailor Haumea.

I felt it my responsibility to unmask the Red Death. To my surprise the creature was…Mr. Stanislav. He was in a daze and panting, but several of his students were calming him down. The veins in his neck bulged and appeared to be colored black.

"Are you okay," I asked.

"…Yeah," he breathed. "I…was going to have some fun but…" he looked around at the carnage, "but…I don't know how it got so out of hand."

He was still somewhat tense, but we told him to sleep it off. Fortunately, he didn't seem to remember when his body turned into a great monster. Next to him, I noticed a calling card. It was a black king chess piece. I growled under my breath and clenched a fist. I should've known!

The loudspeaker came on. "Ladies and gentlemen, do not worry. Everything you just saw was all part of the show. No monsters or people were harmed during this production. Principal Wright and the janitors were all notified beforehand and all participants signed for appearance. Even Sailor Haumea was called in advance to attend. This was a wonderful homecoming for Central High and let's make it a great year!" The voice was under heavy distortion, but still sounded somewhat familiar. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

I wore off my Senshi garb quicker than expected. Roy was outside with my ride home. I asked where he was for my big scene. He said, "Working the program. I did some of the special effects."

I understood and thanked him for the ride, but still thought it odd he would leave without telling me.

* * *

"Brava, Lani!" Ganymede congratulated my victory the next day on group call. "I wasn't expecting you to take on that monster by yourself."

"I wasn't expecting to _encounter_ this monster."

"But I taught you well. Pat yourself on the back because you performed great under pressure."

I sighed in relief. I knew my face would be plastered all over the school news the next week, but it was worth it if nobody got hurt. "But that monster was different. Rather than have generic henchmen, he worked his way up to possession of a person with dark energy. How did he get all of that all of a sudden?"

"He's gotten smarter. His attacks have adapted to our strategies. Apaay, you said something happened to you in Canada, right?"

"Yes. Two orcas were moving at the pier, acting more destructive than usual. They were bigger than average, too. I had to ride one like a bronco to tame it."

We stifled a laugh at the visual.

"After that, I used him against the other orca and we pushed him back. As soon as he snapped out of it, black smoke came from his blowhole and flew off."

"At least you're both unharmed," Ganymede assured. "Now we just need to sit down and try to plan our next move. I was thinking we go after Eris now, as her power would make the best ally."

Ganymede took a message off his communicator. "Ladies, we have a new call. Our next target can be found somewhere in Chile."

"Chile? Why on Earth would it be Chile?"

"Haumea. Sedna. We're double booked this weekend. I'm not sure if finding the new Sailor or stopping the current one is top priority right now."

Apaay gave a suggestion on the fly. "Lani can take us both to Chile. She has the fastest vehicle after all."

Ganymede paused before accepting. "Alright. But you're on your own for this one. Try to avoid making a scene this time, okay?"


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5: The Star of South America**_

The Flame Chariot carrying Sedna and I crashed onto the beaches of Santiago. Alright, maybe crashed is not the right word. But this landing felt bumpier and less controlled than the stunt I pulled in Vancouver. I still impress myself with how I was able to commandeer Hi'iaka and Namaka during this adventure, especially considering even at the time of this narration, I still do not hold a learner's permit.

Fortunately, it was almost dusk and not too many people were around to see us. However, with so much open area, I had no idea how to hide the chariot. The horses kept going, and I did nothing to slow them down. So we just rode on after we landed, fire streaking from the chariot's wheels.

As we careened off the sand for a few hundred kilometers, I soaked in the sights of Chile. To my surprise, there was a pool on the beach a few kilos out of the city. Granted, the waters of the ocean were hostile and in no condition to swim in, but still, it felt odd. The novelty of having a public swimming pool on a public beach was hilarious. I slowed down the chariot alongside the beach before I decided to slide the horses on the beach. We had gone far enough down the pool's coastline to get me to think nobody would ever cross to the ocean side. What harm could it bring? The horses bent for the water, but I made a cautionary move for them to not drink it.

Sedna dipped her fingers in the pool to inspect it. It glowed as it ran through her fingers and she closed her eyes, feeling its essence in her hands. "Filtered water. They pumped water from the Pacific Ocean, desalinized it, and ran it through a filter." She saw a hotel tower and a few lights on the other side of the pool. "This looks like a resort hotel. We cannot go around the pool, so we have to swim it to get into the city."

Sedna used her enhanced swimming abilities to cross the pool and I lifted some lava rocks to make a bridge for me to cross. They cooled once they hit the water. When we got to the other side, I turned on Tracker. It was pointing us into the urban areas. Oh, no. If anything happened to us, the whole city would see! Better be careful when transforming.

* * *

We walked into the city as soon as our civilian clothes returned. Sedna carried a purse at her side and I brought Music as a Weapon just in case; now just appearing as a normal acoustic guitar. These were the only bearings that stood out as we wandered.

Santiago was modern. I was surprised at the architecture. I guess I do not know what I was expecting, but I saw futuristic looking buildings alongside Spanish designs of Ionian pillars and rocky church facades. The streets had been closed off for cars, so people were roaming them and dancing all across the roads. Many of the people wandering the streets were dressed in black clothes and concealed their face under wide-brimmed hats.

"If only we had a disguise pen. We should have to blend in because nobody would be dressed like that unless there was a party going on and…"

"Did you say…disguise pen?" Sedna questioned.

"Yeah, they used it on the show. Sounds silly, but it would allow them to…"

"I think Io might have given me something like that." Sedna reached into her purse and pulled out a ballpoint pen. It was a different color from her transformation pen, being brown instead of teal, with a gold paintbrush as the cap. "She said point it at a picture or a person wearing the outfit you want, move the cap over yourself like a scanner, and you inherit their costume."

"Do you think it will work on multiple people?"

"Maybe. Io said nobody ever tried that before."

She pointed it at a pedestrian near us. After pressing a button, she performed the act described and in a quick second, much like a jump cut in a film, her clothes changed. In the literal blink of an eye later, she was in the same clothes as the people on the streets. She wore a red-striped black shawl and long black dress that went halfway down her shin almost to her ankles. What struck me most was she now also wore ghost-white makeup with a strange floral pattern around her dark-shadowed eyes. Her lips were now painted a voluminous red and made her mouth look like a bleeding flower peeking out from the snow on her face. It was haunting yet beautiful at the same time.

"Wow," was all my mind allowed me to say. "Try me," I insisted after seeing this miracle. Sedna repeated the gesture, on herself this time before pointing the brush at me. Sure enough, I received an identical outfit right then and there. It even knew my size. After changing, I looked in a nearby window. The makeup job looked good on me, I had red eyeshadow to match my lipstick, with black paisley patterns on my cheeks and forehead. I felt like a vampire princess of some kind. And I loved it.

"How did this…?" I started asking.

"Do not question it. This is magic," Apaay cut me off and giggled. "If even I do not know an explanation, then that is what makes it magic. It is in direct corollary to Arthur C. Clarke's law." She looked around to get a feel for the crowd. "Alright. Now that we blend in, we need to follow them to where they are going. They are going where Tracker pointed."

* * *

After only about ten minutes of walking, we got to the house Tracker said held the artifact. The door was closed but with one of those slides you see at speakeasies in old movies, where someone would give the password to go in. Apaay knocked for both of us.

After about a minute of waiting, a pale woman with a feathered mask slid open a hole in the door. "¡Hola, muchachas! No recuerdo invitado ustedes."

"En ingles, por favor." That was the only Spanish I knew. I now questioned why I had decided to study Latin in high school. It seemed to be enough, as I saw the eyes nod in acknowledgement.

"Oh, why didn't you say so? I speak some English." I rolled my eyes. "I…welcome you fine young ladies, but I did not see you on the invite list. What are your names and why did you come?"

Alright, this was a problem. I may have prepared other times, but here I did not have an alibi.

Leave it to my closest ally to cover for me. As soon as I was about to make up an outlandish story, Apaay said, "my name is Apaay and my friend here is Lani. I did not know we needed an invitation. We just noticed a lot of people were dressed up down the street and we decided to follow them here."

"Oh, that's fine. I invited almost the whole city of Santiago, but you must be new here. That's okay." I sighed in relief as our hostess introduced herself. "I am named Claudia." She swung the door open. "¡Bienvenidos! Have lots of fun!"

At this moment, I got my first impression of Claudia. I was taken aback because she was huge. She stood an estimated six feet and change, even without the high heels she was wearing. Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail by a large magenta bow and her green feathered mask concealed her eyes. Like the guests, she wore pale makeup and a long black gown, making me wonder what such occasion would warrant such a costume. In her right hand, she held a mirror, glass pointed at her back. What an unusual prop for a party that did not seem to have a defined theme.

Sedna and I sat down began formalities at her guest table. "How old are you?" Sedna asked.

"Eighteen."

"I am almost sixteen and my partner is fifteen. But now that we addressed formalities, tell us a bit about yourself."

"In business, I am called ' _Estella Sudamericana_ " or the 'Star of South America'. I have a professional singing career, but I was thinking of putting out one guitar record soon. My manager saw me audition and he said I just lit up the room with my smile and fun personality. None of the other girls in the studio even bothered to compete. They call me the Star of South America, because I shine so bright." She giggled at the bad pun. "I…also play _futbol_ ; right defender exactly. I am not professional there, but I want to try later."

"She means 'soccer', by the way," Apaay whispered at me. I knew that, but did not say anything; instead opting to nod politely.

Apaay and Makemake spoke some more in Spanish. I could make out words like "anoche" and "un monstruo del mar", but most of it sounded blended so I could not make anything out. They seemed to be talking about some revelation or battle plans, but the fact they were doing so in Spanish meant matters were private. Something strange happened when I overheard what seemed like made up gibberish in their dialogue. When Sedna said the name "Makemake", Claudia's eyes lit up. She shook her head in the "yes" motion. Apaay gave a small grin in satisfaction. She began texting me: _Makemake is another dwarf planet. New Senshi confirmed!_ Apaay gestured to Claudia's mirror, they did a secret handshake, they mutually zipped lips to indicate a close guarded secret, and Claudia left to entertain her guests further.

* * *

"What did you say to her?" I asked Apaay as she left.

"I gave her the scoop. I told her she is a potential Sailor Senshi and she was ecstatic. She grew up on the Latin American dub and loves the show. From the description she gave, the green hand mirror is her totem. There are people around so I wanted us to be secret by speaking another language."

"We are in Chile, Sedna. A lot of people speak Spanish!"

"Yes, but you look around and people here are speaking English. Plus, we spoke fast so it would be difficult to pick up. You dig?"

I dug. "Proceed," I insisted. "But, how did you know about Makemake but not Sedna when I met you?"

"After I became Sailor Sedna, I started doing research on the Kuiper Belt and I discovered some new worlds to guess who the new Senshi would be. I brought up Makemake because I thought she would recognize the name for cultural reasons. It turns out she is coinciding Dia de los Muertos with Dedication Day for this party. Claudia has Rapa Nuian ancestry so she made this whole party quetzal and tiki head theme."

"Rapa Nuian?"

"Easter Island. You know, with the heads? It is an overseas territory of Chile which had a church of the bird-man Makemake whose appearance marked the return of the sun every spring. She is playing to Day of the Dead traditions as well as Makemake. Because remember, seasons are reversed down here and it is actually spring in Santiago."

"Oh."

We made our way to the central room to party with Claudia's company. And then, the ground shook.

As I said before, earthquakes were common in my native home of Hawaii. From what I heard, they are also a common occurrence in Chile. I would not have faulted you if you believed Claudia or I were expecting this and knew proper protocol for how to survive this earthquake. But this one felt unnatural. It felt…artificial. It felt as though there were a drummer shaking the ground beneath us. The beat was rhythmic with a steady cadence drumming "da-dum, da-dum", shaking Claudia's house in time to the beat. In the midst of this thumping, I heard the waves turning outside. The party guests were in a state of panic, but Claudia and Apaay raised three fingers each to indicate calm and quietness in the midst of the chaos. Claudia ordered a tactical retreat of her house, as though she had done this many times before.

When we got outside, we noticed people continuing to rush indoors, afraid debris falling from the buildings would kill them. I turned my face to the direction of the ocean. And what a sight I saw there. A three-legged creature with a round body—sort of like a tick if it had only three legs, emerged from the depths of the Pacific Ocean. The tick walked with an unusual stride, back foot in front, then two front feet follow. It reminded me of an orangutan's walk, only with the back feet fused into one. A motor engine with pistons and turbines jutted out from its backside. The rhythmic cadence of the engine revving matched that of the tremors I had felt inside Claudia's house.

As I saw this being, which I dubbed in my head "the tripod", wreak havoc on the streets of Santiago, I took a mental damage toll to assess how much destruction was caused on our behalf. A few things had been destroyed in our fights before, but this was the most destructive and powerful threat we had faced yet. The tripod had split the road in half with a massive crack from trailing its back leg. And in the earthquake, two buildings suffered visible damage. Alone, that was in the neighborhood of $1000. We had to become Sailor Senshi now to keep it from growing too much higher.

I felt a confident grin come over my face. I may have been unsure of myself before, but this time, I was ready. I glanced over at Apaay, and she gave the same expression while nodding. It was go time!

* * *

"Haumea Power, Make Up!"

"Sedna Power, Make Up!"

Falling to the ground, we made sure to strike a cool pose at the landing. I outstretched my hands and held them above me, as if I were carrying the world upon my shoulders. I thought it appropriate as my namesake was said to be the Mother of the World. For the first time, I felt like I was getting the hang of being a Sailor Senshi. Sedna struck a pose on her landing, too. She clasped her hands together as if in prayer and placed them on her right cheek, giving a cute but also somewhat flirty smile.

Sedna already heard my catchphrase in training, but I decided to use it again. "I am Sailor Haumea, Guardian of Magma and Rebirth. And in the fiery depths of Haumea's heart, you shall burn!"

For the first time, I heard Sedna's catchphrase. She had been practicing on writing one, even more so than I had. Over the course of training, she never even revealed this catchphrase because she said it needed to be fine-tuned before it was ready to be heard by all the world. Hers was "My name is Sailor Sedna. As the Guardian of the Ocean and Tranquility, may the seas accost you!" Clever.

Claudia ran towards us, squealing and applauding in delight. "Oh, yes. Yes. This was just as I dreamed of. You chicas are my heroes already." She singled out Sedna for her next comment. "Your…fingers are uncovered!"

Sedna smiled. "Stylistic choice. Thank you for noticing."

I made the first strike. "Haumea Blast," I shouted. I made that name up on the spot. But it worked. A splash of A'a lava hit the tripod in an intricate pattern. It lasted for a split second, and disappeared upon impact.

In this new blast, I saw what must have been my planet symbol. It looked like a table, with one ball on top of the table and another below it. Had invoking the name of my goddess given a bearing on my attacks?

The three-legged creature, much to our surprise, saw it coming. It seemed to put up a barrier as purple lightning cracked from its armor. Though my blast hit, it did minimal damage. It reared its front right foot at me and pinned me to the streets of Santiago.

"My turn!" Sedna attacked next, taking some sea water rolling down the tripod's back and storing it in her essence. She blasted twin jet streams of water at the creature, who took more damage from the water than from my lava, stumbled a few inches back, wrecking a hole in a nearby building. That probably added $10000, I thought. It raised its left front leg to smother Sedna and, despite a block from Sedna's ice barrier, brought her to the same fate as I.

While we struggled beneath the tripod, I looked to Claudia's direction. "Claudia, this mission depends on you now!"

"I…I do not know what to do. I want to be a Sailor, I dreamed of being a Sailor, but how can I be one now?"

"You have to press the button on the mirror and call for your planet to make-up!"

"You sure?"

"Yes," Sedna coughed, straining under the weight of the creature. "You are the one meant to join us in our quest. If you were not meant to take up the mantle of Sailor Senshi, you never would have received the mirror in the first place!"

She gulped. "Makemake Power, Make Up!"

* * *

In defiance of all that has been reported in this story so far, Claudia did not seem in pain at all during her transformation. In fact, by the look on her face, she enjoyed what was happening. She gave a big, laughing grin as she spun for those ten seconds she was in the air.

Her symbol flashed before me before she started her climb. It was a crescent above two circles, divided in the middle by a straight line. To best describe it, I thought it looked either like an opera mask or the face of some weird tropical owl. It seemed altogether fitting for a party girl like Claudia.

When Claudia came down as Sailor Makemake, her primary color was forest green like Sedna, only her secondary color was more lime green while Sedna's was more of a tan. She also had streaks of magenta on her skirt and boots to match her bow. Like me and unlike Sedna, her tiara was gold, but with a magenta gem in the center. Her boots were much longer than mine or Sedna, riding up her thighs almost to her hips. They were green but gauntleted in magenta, and the likewise magenta gauntlets on her gloves rode all the way up the forearm. I wondered if her arms felt stiff in those. Her mask and ponytail were unchanged by the transformation.

Thinking on the spot, the newest Senshi gave us her first attempt at a catchphrase. "I am…Sailor Makemake, Under the Command of the Sun and Bringer of Peace…and justice shines from the sun I cast!"

I hung my head in shame. Sedna was more blunt in saying "Needs practice".

"Try putting your finger to your tiara to see what happens," I instructed Makemake.

As the tripod moved its free leg in her direction, Makemake did as she was told. A golden bubble wrapped around the Sailor Senshi as the leg bounced off the bubble, unable to break it. As Makemake removed her finger from her forehead, the bubble disappeared. "It does that. Now what?"

A shield? I thought as the tripod applied more pressure. Useful, but not appropriate given our current situation.

The newest Senshi gave a blank expression towards me as I was being crushed by the tripod's foot. "…Now what?" she shivered. "I have not thought about what happens next. Help me!"

"Call something out. Make up an attack based on what you think your power could be."

"I do not know what power I might have, though."

"Think of something," Sedna suggested. "Just call out any attack by name and I guarantee you will get a result."

Sedna paused in an indecisive stance. Then, she looked down at her mirror and struck inspiration. She saw her mirror reflecting light and casting a light wave on the ground beneath her. A wave of realization crept over her face as she appeared to have a plan. She looked down at her feet and pointed the mirror at them. As the point of light reflected from the sun stood there, she began kicking it back and forth between her feet as if she were playing…soccer. Yes! Maybe there was something to her after all.

A ball of light formed at her feet after about thirty seconds of kicking. This was such an obvious observation, Makemake even dubbed the attack this as she shouted "Ball of Light" at the tripod. She kicked it in a perfect straight vector about forty-five degrees above her foot, right into the tripod's center. It passed through the monster and left a steamy, gaping hole in its center before deflecting off a nearby office building which received minimal damage.

"GOOOOOOL!" She shouted. She jumped high in the air and pumped her fist as the creature fell, setting Sedna and I free from under it.

The tripod leaned over and fell. The hole in the beast was located at the point where Makemake stood, so she was unharmed by the tripod falling on top of her. Sedna and I were freed. We got up and dusted ourselves off from the attack. Being crushed under this weight did little internal damage, as Sedna's healing water confirmed. As I turned to Sedna, she was covering her jaw with both hands, eyes widened in the direction of our new ally. I turned to look at her and I saw Makemake glowing.

Makemake had climbed from the wreckage with little difficulty. Sure enough, she did radiate an aura of light and held her fist to the sun, declaring victory for the day. She was grinning from ear to ear all the while.

* * *

Makemake jumped forth and gave us both a gigantic bear hug. "This is fantastic! I finally became a superhero. Thank you, muchachas!"

I looked around the area to see how people would react. What I saw was a Kuiper Senshi's worst nightmare. There were flashing lights and cameras pointed right at our vicinity.

"They know," I whispered to Sedna. "What do we do?"

I moved over to Makemake, remembering she looked calm during transformation despite the idea she was supposed to be in pain.

"Um…excuse me. I just noticed you looked happy when you became Sailor Makemake. Didn't that hurt you?"

"No," Makemake affirmed. "Parts of it stung a little, but I have high tolerance. Plus it was worth it to become a Sailor…Sensi like you!"

"It's SenSHI," I corrected. "But you will get the hang of it. We shall send a representative to help you out later."

A man with a goatee and an old fashioned camera walked over towards Makemake. "Excuse me, Miss," he began, directing his address to Claudia. "I was looking for someone like you." He walked up to her and pointed his camera at her face. "What is your name, great heroine?"

"I am Sailor Makemake, Guardian of…Joy and of…um…Radiance." It was better than her first attempt at a nickname at least.

"My name is Hyperion. I am the eldest son of Sailor Saturn. I spent most of my time following the original Senshi's mission to track down their successors and I lived in Chile and Argentina for the bulk of my time doing this search."

Makemake looked at me and mouthed "Do you know him?" pointing at his nose.

"No problem," I mouthed back. "We have trainers, too. He is on our side and will take good care of you. This is fine."

He kissed Makemake's hand and she blushed. "I…I am flattered," she said to him. "Of course you can train me. Thank you!"

"But…" Sedna questioned, "She is a celebrity. It will be hard to hide her double identity when she is already a singer."

"I know that, but since I am actually a reporter, I can bend the story to suit our needs. Plus, she does wear a mask."

Makemake giggled. At least someone had an excuse. I still could not get over how we could go undetected.

"All right then," I conceded. I guess we do not have to send anyone if this is the case."

"You better go, then," Makemake assured. "Do you remember where you parked?"

"Yeah. There is no need to worry about me. I can track the chariot easy." I held the Rod over my head and pressed the button as soon as we cleared the crowd. The chariot came racing to us at light speed, blazing new ground and adding to our damage bill. Santiago would not be happy with us after this.

Once we summoned the Flame Chariot, we rode off for home, confident in acquiring a new ally.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6: A Chance Encounter**_

It was two weeks since Homecoming, and the school paper had reported Sailor Haumea's surprise visit in great detail. I was sitting outside during midday free period, and happened to pick up the _Bi-Weekly Mustang_ on my way out. I read it at the front bench outside the school's main entrance waiting for the next bell to sound. The photo used was of me striking the beast down, and it was the best image I had seen the press use of me so far. As far as they go, reporting on the event was satisfyingly accurate.

 _ **Best Homecoming Ever? Local Superhero Saves us from Supernatural Threat**_

Central High School has the defender of Santa Fe saving us again. In an unexpected turn for the scary, a "Masque of the Red Death" Homecoming unleased a monster of the actual Red Death upon us. Just when the school thought a mass murder was in store, the cute and talented superheroine calling herself "Sailor Haumea" arrived to dispel of the creature. About a month before, she introduced herself to the residents of Santa Fe in the midst of a scuffle in the town plaza, but was cleared of all charges by Santa Fe police on the grounds she was trying to help and did succeed in stopping a theft.

Sophomore Steffi Gonzales was lucky enough to not only talk to Sailor Haumea, but even went so far as to hug her and declare her as a "friend." "She has been a huge inspiration for me since she first appeared in Santa Fe," Miss Gonzales told the _Mustang._ "I was writing a manga based on her encounters from what I could piece together on the news, and now I have a conflict and a major villain to add to it. Thank you again, Sailor Haumea!"

SGA officer Roy Koningen, sophomore, and AP Literature professor Anton Stanislav, were the ringleaders of the operation. "Sailor Haumea's appearance was planned from the start," said Koningen. "She bought her ticket in advance and I had her sign for visiting. Everything was planned out before the event occurred and I told her the monster was staged as part of the act." Mr. Stanislav however, was not as assured in his statement. "Yeah, I was the monster, but I do not remember growing tentacles or rearing back my head and showing my teeth. The girl in the sailor suit might have been planned for, but that part was not." Regardless of who was right in remembering the encounter, nobody was hurt and we all walked away with a great memory that night.

Many student profiles have been taken, but the identity of Sailor Haumea and her place of residence in Santa Fe remain a mystery. Nobody knows when she will return or who she is under the suit, but now Central High is on a Sailor Wave. Santa Fe's favorite girl cares for the students here, and we could not be happier for her performance.

Embarrassing? Perhaps. Misrepresenting and libelous? Maybe just a little. But it was nice to be treated as a hero and not a wanted woman. One thing I could not comprehend was how I still somehow went unrecognized every time. In the Sailor Haumea garb, I am a celebrity and role model for the student body. But if I sit down on a bench outside in jean shorts and a pink polo shirt, somehow that makes me a nobody again. I did not even have Makemake's excuse of wearing a mask with the costume.

* * *

Steffi strolled up to the bench and slid right next to me, invading my personal space a bit. She was wearing her hair down, which she had told me once was indicative of her thinking deep thoughts.

"So, Leilani Akelah Kane, I remember talking to you at Homecoming, but you left right when the lights went red. What do you think of this story? And why did you leave the second Sailor Haumea showed up?"

"Well, Stefanie Mariana Gonzales Shipperton, you were there. Could you tell me what your reaction was?"

"Oh my gosh, it was the best homecoming ever. When Haumea came swooping in to take out that monster, it was all cheers and laughter. It felt like in those old movies when the hero arrives in the nick of time to save everyone. And this got me to brainstorm even more." She mussed up her hair, even further than it already was. "I did not have a main villain for the manga before, but now Haumea can fight this Chess-guy who left the piece at the dance. You have to give me some pointers later on specifics of how this conflict will work, but now I have a plot going!"

"I left early because I…was sick," I made up an excuse on the spot. "Something they had at the food pavilion did not agree with me, so I was stuck in the bathroom for the fight. I came out about the time the sprinklers went off. I am glad I met Sailor Haumea at my school no less, but I am a bit upset I missed the spectacle. Glad nobody was hurt but I had to hit the head. Roy said that was okay and he gave me a ride home when everything blew over."

"Oh, yeah. Roy is a nice guy. I am glad he understood."

My curiosity got the better of me. I needed an outside opinion on what the differences were between Sailor Haumea and myself. "I have a personal question, Steffi. Someone called me out and said I might have been Sailor Haumea a while ago." I had to lie. It felt dirty and churned my stomach, but if I was to keep following the rules, I had to fudge it. "I can confirm to you now I am NOT Sailor Haumea. But as I sit here, right now, do you think I look like her?"

She stared at me, analyzing every detail of my face to see if I matched the figure in her head she was thinking of. Her face lit up and she seemed to recognize my facial pattern from somewhere at first, but after about a minute, she declared, "Nope."

"WHAT?! What do you mean 'nope'?"

Steffi answered by saying, "you are cute and all, but Sailor Haumea was drop dead gorgeous. Her face, her eyes, it was all enough to mesmerize anyone. It was as if she radiated heat from her volcanic heart. Your cosplay was a fine imitation of the character. But that is from a costuming standpoint. You got every detail of her uniform down pat, but your face does not scream Sailor Senshi to me."

I was a little disappointed, but a small part of me was glad she could not put the pieces together for whatever reason. Still, the illusion had to be strong—somehow—for nobody to catch on even with nothing hiding my face.

I diverted the subject from my appearance to her story. "The villain's name should be the Chessmaster," I told her up front.

"You think so? That sounds like a good name. Where did you hear it?"

"It just came to me because he likes chess. Also, remember the original Sailor Moon had help. So Sailor Haumea could use a team as well. Do you know anything about the Kuiper Belt?"

"I think I fell asleep during Astronomy Class on that one."

"Well, all the dwarf planets now have Sailor Senshi to lead them. There is Sailor Sedna, who derives her powers from the ocean, Makemake who has light based powers, and Sailor Eris whose powers I have not decided yet."

"That sounds great. Do not worry about Eris, I will come up with something. Just a sec! I need to write all this down."

I summarized the rest of my story, and Steffi scribbled all of it down on her floral notebook—the one she used for random thoughts, as she told me once. It was fun. I was able to tell her the story without telling it "from the horse's mouth" as it were, and Steffi was none the wiser. She showed me her early sketches of Sailor Haumea also. I have no idea what she was talking about. They looked like me, except she exaggerated the eyes to gain the anime effect. Whatever, I thought. As long as the story is being told and I am keeping the secret, this is a win-win for both of us.

* * *

 _Stressful. Tense. Maybe a little stupid._ These may not seem like apt words to describe a first kiss, but they were mine.

Later that same day, I was going to meet with Roy. We had a date that evening where we go to his dad's to try his asparagus salad recipe and then see the indoor soccer match against San Francisco Javier HS later. We met in the upper wing of the school away from the afterschool rush. I stood there, legs crossed and arms behind me, and he showed up at exactly 4:15 to greet me. We said hi, gave the requisite greeting hug Roy invented for us, and he started our conversation.

Roy went on about statistics and his ideas of soccer and prediction for the night—we were set to win by one. He told me also about being the ace for basketball and next week's tryouts which he said he was guaranteed to pass. "That's…nice," I acknowledged, pretending to be interested although I was not paying attention to what he said.

"Yeah," he replied. "It will be a great season in the winter."

I noticed something on his wrist. Trying to divert the conversation, I gave him a compliment. "Nice…Rolex you got there."

He looked at the watch on his wrist and smiled. "Thank you! My parents gave it as an end of season gift at last year's tennis tournament."

We hit an awkward pause right at that moment. Without thinking, I remembered Steffi's idea of how I should be the one to kiss first. I had told her technically he kissed me already when he asked me to Homecoming. Steffi said that kiss did not count. "It has to be on the lips, and you have to mean it," she told me when we were on the bench. It was now or never, I thought.

I lurched forward in one fluid motion without any thought at all. I closed my eyes bracing for impact, expecting to bump heads or smash noses or do anything but kiss him in the right spot. To my surprise, I landed my target. First try! We locked lips for about two seconds before I realized what I was doing and backed away in shame.

I hid behind my shirt collar, but stared up at Roy. I was expecting him to get angry and wig out. I thought he might even break up with me then and there for kissing without asking. What had I done? What was I thinking? I could have been charged with harassment for a smaller offense. In spite of myself, I stood there stiff, wondering what would happen next.

Roy did not look angry. He looked dazed. It seemed like he was trying to absorb what just happened and save it in his memories to use at a later date. "You…kissed me," Roy stated the obvious. "On…the lips."

"Sorry," I squeaked.

Roy leaned against a wall and chuckled a bit. "No apology necessary. That was brave, and I like that in a woman! In fact, I was just about to kiss you today."

He held me close and looked into my eyes. "First time?"

I could not speak for I had a knot in my throat. All I could do was nod my head "yes".

"Me too, if you can believe it."

"No way," I mouthed, still feeling the lump.

"I know. Everyone thinks I am a chick magnet. And well…I am. But though I was able to attract all the girls in our grade and even date one or two of them starting last year, we never got to the point where either of us wanted to kiss the other. Sounds strange, but we never opened up that way before." He pulled me closer. Sure to Steffi's prediction, he did seem happy I moved first. "So…thanks."

Now it was his turn to kiss me. He held this one for much longer. This kiss lasted around five seconds. My eyes widened and I still felt a little disturbed by the encounter, but I did not resist.

* * *

"So you all received different threats at the same time I fought that giant castle on my own? That is weird. I thought this was a horrible coincidental moment for all of us," I was in a conference call online with Apaay, Claudia, and Ganymede a week later. The other two Senshi reported a Pawn Bearer and two "bishops"—that is, enemies who resembled the bishop chess piece—respectively, blocking their paths to victory. "We all had attacks at the same time. In our home countries. It seems the Chessmaster tried to separate us on purpose."

Ganymede nodded in agreement. "It would appear that would be so, but the way you describe your victories shows you have a handle on your powers. You were creative with them, especially you Sedna." She had brought in a sea lion she summoned with her tiara to the conference call. This sea lion bit a sword in half with greater strength than it should have had, and she brought in pictures to prove it. It licked her face and barked. "Haumea, we did not hear your story though?" commented Apaay. "How did you find the castle?"

"I was at a bistro near my walking place because I was hungry. Also, I know the center of town as the Chessmaster's favorite place to attack because he always makes a scene there. I was ready to attack and made up almost right away. Unfortunately, my boyfriend picked that very moment to call and it sidetracked me. I casted a magma spell instead of flinging lava rocks at him, so I might have even caused more property damage than I thought."

"That is fine. I am also an accountant so…wait? Boyfriend? You are…dating someone?" Ganymede questioned. Apaay and Claudia let out a simultaneous "aw!" and clapped their hands in delight.

"Yeah. A guy named Roy at my school. I do not know WHAT he sees in me, but I guess I should not complain with him."

"Well…you know the rule. Do NOT tell him anything. It is enough you are fifteen and have student lives to live, but when you get that close to another person, there are no secrets…and this HAS to be a secret." I made the zip lips gesture to show I understood.

"On a related note, it has been reported Sailor Eris has crossed the border. Much was reported on her journeys up to the United States. In Mexico, she had scuffles with authorities and Pawn Bearers alike. Titania noted her erratic behavior. She has electricity based powers, according to reports. I say beware her power. I do not know if we can make an ally of her if she is this uncontrollable."

An evil Senshi would be quite the twist to the story. But now, I was a general and I had to lead an army. Quite a lot to balance for a teenager. Even amidst all this news, I still had one burning question. And I knew only Ganymede could answer it. "Do you have any idea how I go unrecognized when I become Sailor Haumea?" I asked.

Ganymede paused and put his fist to his jaw. He looked like he had been asked this question before, and was contemplating giving a concise answer he did not have. "Every Senshi I have ever talked to and all of the other Senshi children have asked me this question. Even my own mother could not understand why she went undetected. The only thing we could guess was you may or may not glow and you definitely grow in size a bit when you transform. But even that does not suffice. I am sorry, but this is one of those things we have to roll with in this job."

* * *

Ganymede evaluated his radar computer and pegged attacks around the world. "It has become too dangerous for one Senshi in one place to fight too many enemies in one place. I call a conference, if that is the case. We need a physical presence of all the Kuiper Senshi right here in New Mexico so the Chessmaster can draw himself to us. Sedna and Makemake, come on over!"

Apaay had to go through legal trafficking and had Sauri file documents to get her to New Mexico. Apaay told me something interesting as well. Her younger brother Oki had caught Sailor Sedna turning back into Apaay. In order to shut him up, Apaay let him run the official Kuiper Senshi blog. He documented the story using a pseudonym and focused mostly on his big sister's exploits in Canada. Like Steffi, he made no association between Apaay Cayuk and Sailor Sedna. But unlike Steffi, he had full awareness and chose his words as carefully as possible to draw Apaay away. So far, it worked. Now our tale had two chroniclers.

Since Claudia was a legal adult, she got to check through customs with much less hassle. It helped she was a celebrity, and told the TSA she was on tour as a viable excuse. She told her road manager she planned to perform in Santa Fe in the summer, but was scoping out a smaller venue for later. The manager agreed and signed residency papers, anticipating a longer stay.

As far as we were concerned, Santa Fe was the center of the universe. The Chessmaster lived here, he knew I lived here and had called my allies for aid, and it made logical sense an attack would be planned for New Mexico. Once my friends arrived, we all met at the center of town with Ganymede. As predicted, global attacks diminished. None of the other Senshi children came to our aid, which we thought was strange but accepted. Ganymede began the process of tracking the Chessmaster using his radar board to find him.

Ganymede assigned us our first mission three days after the three of us convened at his house. "I had to send Io on high alert. She ran into some difficulties getting there, but we think the Chessmaster is at the Santa Fe Air Base gathering resources. I say think because he has outfoxed us again and been able to hide at just the right moment. We were so close, but he slipped away with what we valued most."

This set off a flurry of questions from me. "But why? Why is he eluding us this time? What was so valued enough for him to take away and how could we not find him?"

"Because," Ganymede began. "The Chessmaster stole our Radar Technology."

* * *

That night, we enacted our raid on the Santa Fe Air Base. Apaay had disguised us as SWAT agents in order to sneak into the base. Just our luck the Chessmaster had to take the one weapon we had against him. It was a cloudless night with a full moon, so our line of vision was great. And, as Apaay showed us, the shadows were cast in such a way to hide us. She had scanned an agent at the front with a pair of binoculars, so she pulled them out and gave them to me. "You are the leader," she said. "You should tell us what we are up against."

I saw at least five dozen Pawn Bearers on the base. Most of them wore the same white and black helmets, but one of them had on a bright yellow crest. This implied to me he was the leader of this unit. They were carrying some sort of cargo, but they were not opening the boxes, so we could not see what they were carrying. I decided then was as good a time as any to make our move, so I threw my left hand out with my palm vertical, indicating a full frontal assault.

We walked into the center of the base, ready for action. Right then and there, we made up and shed our disguises. Sedna and I had the moves down pat, and I saw Makemake land in a position where she stood on her left foot, and had her right reared back as if she were kicking a soccer ball. Well, at least she got a victory pose right. Some progress is better than none.

In addition to our introductions, I got to hear Makemake's second attempt at a catchphrase. "As Guardian of Joy and Radiance, may the sun shine bright on me and away from you." Better. At least it was a cohesive thought and a clever relation to her power.

I wanted to try a test of weapon before we fought. I had my guitar with me when I was fighting the tripod, but in my panic, I forgot to use it. This time, I remembered to activate it right away. I uttered the password "Ganymede" and sure enough, my Flame Rod morphed into a red guitar in my hands. Music as a Weapon had formed for me. Now was the time to use it in battle.

The three of us assumed a circular stance, each one of us using a custom attack. Sedna sent a flurry of water balls at the Pawn Bearers, while Makemake's shield was up and she began launching light beams at the enemy's faces. As for me, I had other plans for combat.

For the first time, I got to use Music as a Weapon in combat and test its true power. I played a G chord and a red sound wave reverberated across the battlefield. As an experiment, I put the neck of the guitar to the ground and played, appropriately, the lead-in to Van Halen's "Eruption". The ground cracked and small spurts of magma pelted the Pawn Bearers. I pumped my fist in the air in celebration and took a victory stride for a few seconds, waving my guitar at my enemies' faces. But I stepped too far and a Pawn Bearer grabbed my guitar neck and jammed my frets with a large clamp! Just my luck. He kicked me to the ground but for whatever reason did not damage my instrument.

Then, I was grappled from behind before I could gather who was on top of me. I looked to my left, and Sedna was below the other arm. I looked down to see a green glove holding my collarbone. It was my own ally pinning me to the ground! What was she doing? I wanted to shout at her to stop, but she picked both of us up and brought us close together. Makemake had some sense, and touched her forefinger to her tiara, activating a shield. She walked with her shield up, not only deflecting attacks but pushing the Pawn Bearers back on contact.

This was a great strategy, but our rivals wised up fast. "Apprehend the yellow one!" the lead Pawn Bearer shouted. I guess the shield did not work against ambush. A shuriken from a soldier in back caused her to lose focus. Soon, Makemake was tackled by Pawn Bearers as Sedna and I ran for our lives. My heart sank as I saw her tiara fall from her forehead.

"Alright, now that we have that settled, time to use that technique the Chessmaster taught us."

Sedna and I were cornered without shields as our enemies gathered us. The Pawn Bearers lifted their shields and stood in a circle. They pointed their swords in our direction as they began to step inward, looking to turn us into shish kebabs. Sedna's ice shield provided some lenience, but the Pawn Bearers chipped through it within mere minutes. This was it, I felt as I braced for my flesh to be pierced by those swords. Just before I thought I would die, I heard from a distance…

"Freeze, Pawn Bearers! Your fate has been served!" A new voice sounded out this threat from on high as a barrage of blue lighting flew from seemingly nowhere, knocking over a few of the Pawn Bearers and stunning a few others.

The Pawn Bearers looked in the direction of the voice, and we Kuiper Senshi followed suit. The voice was unfamiliar, light and feminine, but spoken in a sinister tone. She spoke in a heavy Latina accent that was somehow different than Makemake's.

In the direction of our savior's voice, I saw silhouetted in moonlight a new figure with her hands up in the air, lightning crackling from her arm. I could not quite make out a face, but there was no mistaking this newcomer was the final Kuiper Belt Senshi and the one the whole world had been seeking for two months.

"Beware, Chessmaster. I am coming for you! You cannot hide from a solid bout of chaos and mayhem. For I am… _Sailor Eris!"_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7: A Little Storm of Chaos**_

I was unsure of whether or not to be happy or frightened. Yes, Sailor Eris was saving us and also seemed to be opposed to the Chessmaster, but she was still a wanted woman. I had no idea what she would do if she got her hands on us. I knew the old saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", but Eris was everyone's enemy at this point.

My attention having been diverted to the Pawn Bearers, I looked back in the new Senshi's direction. She was gone! It seemed she traveled faster than she should have to get away from that one point. Just as I was processing her disappearance, all of a sudden, Eris glided into view on the battlefield. The Pawn Bearers broke formation to look at her, with the ones hounding Makemake releasing her, allowing her to run away behind us. For the first time, we got a look at the fugitive Sailor on whose head the whole world had placed a bounty. I was surprised and may have snickered a bit, because Sailor Eris looked nothing like we had pictured her. First off, Eris was short. She was shorter than me! And if that is the case, then you are really short! Her face was fixed in a perpetual frown and she avoided eye contact whenever possible. Her skin tone was a light shade of brown, darker than Makemake's, but lighter than Sedna's or my own. I thought it was a unique pigmentation and looked good on her. She would fit my standards for what I consider "beautiful". But her beauty was not normalized. It felt alien; bizarre. She was no Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, but her gaze could charm anyone. Her hair was a shade of blonde so pale it was almost white, and fixed into two pigtails which flung over her shoulders and reached down to her chest. Alongside her costume was a small black satchel which bulged in an odd way.

Of all the Kuiper Senshi, Eris' costume was the closest to mine. She wore an almost solid ebony black suit with black boots and gauntlets. Her secondary color was an ivory white that almost glowed with how bright it was, worn at her collar, bow and gloves. She had a third color as well. Her skirt and boots had red stripes on them, and at her chest was a red brooch, which emanated a red glow and crackled with energy. There was a red jewel in her tiara also. And unlike any Sailor Senshi I had seen before either on TV or in my reality, she wore white knee-high stockings under those boots. Quite the cosmetic choice, costume designers. But everyone else had their own accessory to stand out, so why was this any different?

* * *

After Eris' flourish of an entrance, she reached into her satchel and pulled out two meatballs. What would a Sailor Senshi do with meatballs? I thought. She whistled with her free hand and called for something called "Dysnomia". I almost jumped out of my skin as a coyote blasted into view, knocking down a few Pawn Bearers in the process. Like Eris, the coyote cracked with electric energy. It reared its head and howled in our direction, leaving a ringing in my ears.

"Here boy," I said, trying to pacify the beast. "Nice boy…"

Eris scowled. "Dysnomia is female."

"Oh. Here…girl," I corrected myself.

Dysnomia ignored me and focused on Eris. Eris hefted a meatball into the air and the coyote caught it. Eris knelt down to talk to the beast. "You know the drill, right girl?" she encouraged the dog. I was not sure, but I thought I saw Dysnomia nod in understanding of this request. Eris threw a meatball in knuckleball formation to her right for the dog to chase. The dog ran after it so fast, she looked like a blurry streak. Then, all by herself, she bowed her right leg in front of her and put both fists at her side to convey a fighting stance. "I am the Guardian of Chaos and Entropy. For the love of Eris, You are in for a Little Storm of Chaos! Come at me, bros," she goaded the Pawn Bearers. This incited them to charge at her. And a one-sided battle began right there.

It seemed like Eris had some practice during her time as a Senshi. As they swung at her, she dodged with the grace and agility of a black panther. She touched her right index finger to a Pawn Bearer's cheek, and he fell faint with the slightest flick. Then, to take out the rest of the army now rushing at her, she made a graceful leap to the side and touched her finger to her tiara. To everyone's shock and awe, she teleported behind them and I felt my jaw drop at the spectacle. The Pawn Bearers were forced to turn their attention around, and then they charged at Eris, who looked like she had a bold plan to finish her battle routine. For the grand finale, she put both hands on her right leg, bent down, and spun on her left foot faster than I thought possible. The result was a whirlwind of sand and electricity, blasting several Pawn Bearers in the hearts and sending many either to their knees or flying off. As soon as they were stunned, Dysnomia ran through their remaining ranks, meatball in mouth, and they fell like bowling pins.

When her work was done, she turned to us with a confident smirk on her face as Dysnomia sat at her side. "And this, my…friends, is how you deal with an army of Pawn Bearers." She assumed a victory stance holding one hand in the air and crossing her right foot over her left, reminiscent of the legendary Sailor Venus from the show.

Makemake applauded in delight, jumping up and down while encouraging the new Sailor. Hearing this, Eris turned to greet us. "Oh, my. Are you the other Sailors of whom I was warned? Where are my manners?" She curtsied, but her expression let us know the gesture was not entirely genuine. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. You know already I am Sailor Eris, but in a previous life, I was Kristina Malos."

Sedna interrupted before Eris could draw out the moment with needless exposition. "Story time comes later. For now, we have to find what the Pawn Bearers were loading and maybe try to find our radar technology." Before we continued the mission, Eris walked up to me and in a surprising change of character unjammed my guitar right then and there. She avoided looking at me as she did this, and walked away when she was finished.

"Thank you?" I squealed. Though I do not think she heard me.

The Pawn Bearers had cleared the area, and it seemed like it would be hours before authorities arrived. There were no sirens or searchlights or even any sign the real SWAT team would show up. So I questioned if the incident of the hostage base had even been reported. That Chessmaster was sneaky when he performed the mission. I thought we had time to investigate and see what the Pawn Bearers were trying to accomplish before Eris crashed their party.

* * *

We ducked into a nearby shed. Inside the shed was one of the crates the Pawn Bearers was trying to load before we arrived. Sedna gave Marine Corps hand signals to say we should investigate. She pointed at the crate, pumped both fists, and pointed to the two strongest in our party, then gave the push signal to indicate what we should do. Makemake and I stood on opposite ends, and we opened the lid together.

Inside was some of the strangest cargo I had ever seen. It was some sort of green goo, about fifty gallons in volume, and it seemed to flow slow and sticky. To test what it was, I hovered my left hand over the goo. As my hand glowed red, Sedna batted it away.

"Don't," she shouted. "We cannot go in and blow it up without examining it. We need a cautious approach or else we all will be blasted into oblivion. Let me try."

She rubbed her hands together creating the glowing water effect she had used to heal us in the past. She pressed the water to the oil just enough for the water to get situated, and hen the whole solution began to glow. Sedna looked puzzled. "This reading does not make sense. It feels like crude oil, but there is an aura to it. It feels like this crude is…enchanted. And it is…evil." She backed away in fear as the liquid stopped glowing. "What…is this madness?"

Eris explained it. "It is residue from digging for the Earth core. The Chessmaster wants to devour the planet's core of every planet he can conquer. The more he consumes, the stronger he gets. As soon as a planet's core is eaten, the protectors lose their powers and many of the lights shut down. The planet still exists, but those on it are weakened."

"Wow! That is…a lot of information," Sedna noted. "How do you know all this from one reading?"

"I have seen it," she answered.

I had no way of questioning how she saw it, so I kept looking for more evidence. I found another crate along the side of the wall. "Hey, check this out," I spoke at above a whisper but not quite at normal tone to signal my teammates. They heard me, though, and rushed to see what I found. We all opened the crate.

"Jackpot!" Makemake almost screeched. Looking in, we saw rangers, walkie-talkies, pipbucks, and all the radar technology not only of Ganymede, but from possibly all of Santa Fe as well. The Chessmaster tried to make himself invisible to anyone who wanted to challenge him, so he stashed al the tech he could find. Now, it was our duty to steal it back. I gave another end to Makemake and we walked away together with the crate.

Next came the sound all of us least wanted to hear: police sirens. Now they had come to investigate. If caught, we would be there all night trying to explain ourselves. And of course you know I did NOT want that.

"We need a diversion," I suggested. "Quick! We need to escape under cover of darkness and not draw attention to ourselves.

Eris ensured "No problem!" Without any hesitation at all, she made the pistol gesture with her hand and pointed at an electric transformer placed about five hundred feet from where we were standing. Bang! With one recoil of her finger, she blasted the grey box and the entire air force base blacked out, giving us cover for our retreat.

I should have expected all of this from the Sailor named after the goddess of Chaos, but at least we found her and we were working towards at least one common goal. She had now proven herself also as a valuable asset to the team with this one move.

* * *

The light from Makemake's forehead directed us to a wooded area where we could hide and reconvene without being seen by the officers. When we were away in the woods, the girl bearing the title "Sailor Eris" began her tale.

"Alright, my story goes like this. I spent the first fifteen years of life in the Central American nation of Costa Rica. Growing up in the dirty part of San Jose was difficult, but I worked many jobs and deserted my family a few years ago, because I thought I was ready to support myself. Recently, I discovered my latent talent as a dancer!" I noticed as she was telling this story and talking with us, she kept spinning around on one foot like a ballerina. Based on this and her battle moves, I had no doubt she was a professional.

"At some point, I was ready to return. But my district had been wrecked to the ground by what I later identified to be Pawn Bearers. I was so enraged, I swore revenge on the being who ruined my life and destroyed my home. On that day, I met Titania, who said I was destined for great things. But she could not have predicted how my transformation would have affected me. I became headstrong, reckless, and aggressive. When I discovered I had electricity powers, I went to town and escaped training, running my way up to the States, where I heard the Chessmaster was, to exact my revenge! That is why I spent the last month in Mexico and was convicted of a few robberies and assaults. The Chessmaster drove me to a life of crime and until now, I had no way to compete with him."

"Wow! I am…so sorry," was all I could bring myself to say. I was vilifying Sailor Eris for so long, I had no idea how becoming a Sailor Senshi had made her suffer. "I will try my best to support you any way I can."

"And right around that time, I met…" she motioned to her side and her pet coyote ran in front of her. "This lovely lady Dysnomia here."

"How did you give her that name?"

Dysnomia reared herself up on Eris' shoulders and licked her cheek. For the first time, I saw Eris give a genuine, happy smile. "She told me," she replied. The coyote stepped down and Eris patted her head. "Dysnomia is like my battery charger. If I grow fatigued or lose focus with my powers, Dysnomia is there to boost me. She also communicates via some sort of telepathy with me. We cannot 'talk' as such. We both know what the other is thinking all the time is the most accurate way to describe it. And I also seem to have given her powers of speed and electric charging." She threw a meatball in the air for Dysnomia to catch. "I had a few of these already. The satchel was a bonus with the transformation, so I put it to good use. I trained her by chucking meatballs and having her follow them."

I noticed something about Eris that bothered me. "You speak English well for someone outside the Anglosphere. How is that?"

"My dad is American," Eris answered. "Also, my mother learned English in school and we spoke it in the house. Not an exciting story, I know."

"So, since the Chessmaster did all this to you, does that mean you will fight for our side?" Sedna asked.

"No! I am not on your side. I am on no sides! I fight for only Sailor Eris and my people." As she said this, her whole body crackled and fizzed with electricity. To calm the irate Sailor, Sedna put up an ice wall around her legs.

"You do not seem to have a choice," Sedna gave her an ultimatum. "You have to join us now because if you do not, it will be easier for the authorities to find you. And I think you want to keep your record clean."

Eris analyzed her situation and slumped her head in defeat. "Fine," she conceded as Sedna lowered the wall. "Who are you…beautiful young ladies of whom I made the acquaintance? If I am fighting with you, I should at least know your names. Just your names is fine, I do not need your life stories."

"Did Titania not tell you?" I asked.

"Nope. I did not stay around that long."

"Alright. I should go first," I volunteered. "My name is Sailor Haumea, Guardian of Lava and Rebirth. You can probably guess what my power is." It was my turn to curtsy, though I did not know why I went there. Probably just out of respect for our new teammate.

"And I am Sailor Sedna, Guardian of the Ocean and

Eris seemed to smile again when she looked at our team's damage dealer. "And I am Sailor Makemake, the Guardian of Joy and Radiance. I still do not have a catchphrase."

"I actually know you because I have seen your civilian form," Eris noted. "Of course I could recognize Estella Sudamerica under a quetzal mask. I love your music! Y todas Latinas son amigas."

Makemake smiled and they hit it off in Spanish for a few minutes before Eris continued. "And you all know who I am," Eris chided. "But yes, we are a team." She outstretched her hand in front of her and made a motion for us to do the same. I accepted the invitation first, then Sedna, then Makemake.

"Let's go!" we all said in unison.

I felt my heart still rushing after our ordeal. It had been around two hours already and my comrades were still in costume also, meaning everyone was stressed out at the moment. We may have won the battle, but the war was just getting started.

Ganymede had also instructed me how to get the Flame Rod to reactivate. I played a descending C chord on Music as a Weapon, and it turned into a rod again. Next, I used some of my stress energy to signal the chariot. Right on cue, Hi'iaka and Namaka rode in and the three Senshi on my side mounted up, loading up the crate of radar tech as well.

As I took the reins, I motioned to a shocked Eris. "Come on. I drive this thing. We need you to fight with us."

Eris hesitated a little more, and smiled. She seemed to be snickering at the ridiculousness of a Flame Chariot with two glowing horses riding in. I did not blame her; I would think the same thing. She and Dysnomia climbed on and the four of us somehow all fit. I gave the signal and we rode off for home.

After our little heist, I dropped Sedna and Makemake off at their hiding spot for their stay in New Mexico. Eris ran off in typical Sailor Eris fashion. But as I rode for my home, I noticed a car pulling up to carry her off. Some woman was driving it, but I could not make her out.

* * *

The next day, Ganymede called an emergency meeting. He said all four of us needed to prepare for the battle ahead and it had to be at his house. In order to convince Dad to go on a Thursday outside our schedule, I told him Ganymede wanted me to cram for a test. There really was a test the next day, but I studied all I could. As we pulled in, right outside the house I saw none other than Kristina Malos knocking on the door. I assumed Apaay and Claudia already arrived because they called the house earlier than me to RSVP their arrival. Accompanying Kristina was a blonde woman who needed no introduction. I knew this was Titania because she took after her mother in all the right ways. She could have been a clone of Minako, the resemblance was so striking.

Outside of her Senshi costume, Kristina was unrecognizable. Instead of blonde pigtails, her hair was short and black, cut almost like a boys' haircut. In another interesting juxtaposition, she wore a black biker jacket with a pink floral print skirt. If I did not know better, I would be unsure if she was a tomboy with a lighter side or a girly girl who was experimenting styles. The only thing I could determine to place her as Sailor Eris was her unmistakable sneer, which she gave as soon as she saw me run up to the door.

"Hi," I said to try and be friendly.

"Hi yourself," she spat. Although she was our new teammate, she still did not seem to like me.

"We have to work with Kristina a little longer," Titania explained. "We want to clear her of all charges because we know it was unintentional and careless. She has learned her lesson, but we do not want to send her to federal prison for it."

"What are you going to do to clear Eris?" I asked.

"My brother Oberon is a licensed attorney, but Eris has an international record. We would need to cut through much more red tape than normal. So just hang tight, Kristina. You need to fight with the good side so this does not get any worse. Got it?"

Ganymede came in to greet us with Apaay and Claudia behind him. "Hello, Haumea. Good job retrieving our radar tech. Apaay gave it this morning. But I am impressed. Now, we have a full set. What we do first is make up, then we begin target practice as well as some team dynamics training later. Then, talk amongst yourselves. Because there will be much to talk about today."

All four of us did well blasting dummies. But after about thirty minutes, Ganymede gave us the real bombshell. "I say two weeks we fight." Fight? Already? I had barely been a Sailor Senshi and already we were going to war.

"Be more specific," I demanded. "How will we be fighting and what is expected?"

Ganymede answered, "An army about eight thousand strong is set to march here into New Mexico within the coming weeks. Led by the children of each of the Inner Senshi, they will be flying a banner but expecting an actual Senshi to lead them."

"Why can the originals not do it?" I was wondering where the power quintet to start the series was and what they were doing this whole time.

"The…Chessmaster already drained their planet cores. They can still transform, but they are much weaker and useless to us. Besides, their strength has diminished over the years, so new blood would be better for us to use in battle." So Eris was right after all. Very odd when the firebrand says something useful for once.

* * *

Eris gave a bold suggestion for us after training ended. "I say in this battle, we determine a leader for the Kuiper Senshi. We need to fight under the command of one person like the armies of the Chessmaster. There should be one army behind one person for a common goal."

I gulped. There was no way I could lead anything. To avoid having anything thrust on me right away, I made a bold proposition. "There is only one fair way to settle this: democracy. If nobody wants to volunteer, we need to pick someone from this group of four to take charge. Each of us should get one vote to determine who among us is best equipped to lead a grand army at this point in time."

Eris went first. Her nomination was predictable. "I vote myself. I have the most training and experience of all of you. I had to fight my way to the top and was the first to outsmart the Chessmaster when we stole back his radar technology. Remember, if not for me, you would have been dead because you panicked and forgot your powers for some reason. You need me to keep you all in line."

I was next. "I vote…Sedna. She is the most educated of us and has the most balance between home life and Senshi life. She can control her transformations best."

Makemake voted for me. "I say Haumea as she was the first to be discovered as well as the one to guide us together. Without Haumea, there would be no Kuiper Senshi."

I blushed and tried to decline. I had never led anyone in my life. Nobody ever listens to me and I am soft spoken and insecure anyway. Is that really the quality of a leader? Of course not.

Then, I turned to my best friend on the team. "Sedna…" I stammered. "You are the deciding vote. Who do you decide?"

Sedna smiled a sad smile. She paused and took a deep breath before saying "I vote you, Haumea."

"What? Why?!"

"Process of elimination combined with experience," Sedna explained. "Neither Makemake nor I have any real fighting skill. Makemake might be equipped to lead based on her celebrity status, but her personality does not scream warlord to me. She is strong from a physical standpoint, yes, but her attacks are best at the middle lines rather than leading an army. But she needs to be more assertive to be a true leader. And I hate being in the frontline. I would be more content to sit around and heal the sick and wounded. Eris might be a good choice also, but you strike me as more likeable and therefore more capable of leading this fight. And since Eris is a wild card, we do not know to where she would lead us."

"But…but I am cripplingly shy and never led anything in my life! What makes you think I could control the fate of the world?"

"Be that as it may, you are the uniter. You brought us all together. Even if you do not fight, you can still rally us together. So now, you are officially Sailor Haumea, Lead Guardian of the Kuiper Senshi and Commander of the Armies of the Planets."

So it was settled. I, Sailor Haumea, had become the democratically elected leader of the greatest team of heroes on Earth. The pressure of this title could not be weightier. Wish me luck!


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8: Preparations**_

Only a few days later, all four of us had our first fight as the fully assembled Kuiper Senshi. Sedna's brother Oki had experience with games like Dungeons and Dragons, and he grouped us into roles based on character classes in that game on his blog. The fight this time was a black dragon which spewed acid instead of fire. Quite the upgrade the Chessmaster gave. As all four of us made up and leapt into the air for combat, we assumed the roles Oki had assigned us. We hid in the bushes when transforming so Oki could not know our true identities, as he was documenting the whole battle with his press kit in hand.

Eris struck first. In this team dynamic, Eris was our "rogue". She favored dirty tactics instead of chivalry and direct styles when she fought. I saw her symbol for the first time today. It looked like two halves of an apple with the stem at the center. Fitting as her attack of ball lightning being flung at the beast was called "Apple of Discord". The dragon yelled, but seemed to suffer little physical damage from all this, with the electricity riding down its tail.

Next, the duties passed to our "cleric" Sedna. Sedna almost never did actual fighting. She stood in back and put up barriers of ice to block and sometimes called a sea otter or orca to help us, but tended to cast spells to either increase our power or heal our injuries. She had created a slick floor of ice so the dragon could not cross without losing balance. She forced the dragon in one place. To boost our power, she threw each of us filtered orbs of pure, desalinated water which would increase our attack powers and keep up our strength in the fight. The last one she gave it to was the bulkiest Sailor Senshi.

To do damage to the dragon, the "fighter" Makemake stepped up to battle. Makemake was the strongest and most adept fighter in our party. Physically, she was muscular and could run faster than the current land speed record. When she kicked, her leg radiated a bright yellow like the sun, and it was enough to knock the wind out of our enemies. Next, she unleashed a flurry of punches, with each looking like a small comet as it left her side and connected with the reptile. The dragon took the impact, lurched its head back, and breathed its black acid breath on her. Makemake put up her shields and the gunk deflected off her and on to the ground below, dissolving some limestone in the process. She put out her arm, and directed the team leader to finish it off.

Lastly, I, the team "mage", finished with my lava based attack powers. I never fought in the front but did not support in the back. My attacks were mostly indirect and magic based. The name fit because I felt like a sorceress and even had a wand to fit the title. Putting my hand to the ground,

I levitated a volley of hot, rocky lava we Hawaiians called "a'a", and blasted all of them one by one at the giant lizard. At this point, it had had enough and shrieked in defeat. Then, I tried something special to add a bit of flourish to our battle. Here is a fun fact for you: King Kamehameha was a famous king of Hawaii. He was known as its liberator and first indigenous king, but was also a renowned surfer and great athlete. I just so happen to be a direct descendant of his. I used my royal genes to conjure up a wave of magma and used a long rock as a surfboard as it turned into lava. At the height of this push, I dismounted my lava board and it hurled right at the dragon's head as it fell backwards. Sedna cooled off the lava using a wave of salt water to avoid suffocating us with noxious fumes. We had won!

The dragon collapsed in a heap as the last rock hit. It was weak, unconscious, and not resisting us anymore, but it was alive. Sedna was able to tend to the beast by rubbing its wounds with her special healing water. If we were fighting animals, she insisted they not be harmed in the process.

Oki stood up and cheered. "Brava! You did even better than I thought." He nagged us after he saw Sedna fight in Canada to witness our battle. Oki began typing away at his laptop. I looked at some of the photos he had gotten. From what I heard, Io gave him press immunity, meaning he was allowed to take better photos than the professionals. And they were quality photos. He got all our powers and the dragon well. I liked the image he took of me calling the hot rocks. It had my cape flowing and my arms outstretched. I wanted to frame it or spray paint it on a panel van, but that might have given me away.

Ganymede and Io were watching, too. Io applauded before dropping important news. "Guess what, girls!"

"What?" we asked in unison.

"The Chessmaster has been declared a global threat at this point. We have had NATO declare a global emergency and they have come to our aid. But that is not all. The president of your United States has issued a statement and mentioned you girls by name. He says 'This is a time of crisis across the globe. So I declare for the military to take the aid of our new protectors. These Sailor Guardians are more than vigilantes or cosplayers; they are our friends. They are fighting of a common goal of world peace and global protection. Therefore, I instruct our troops to not confront them if they are encountered. These four women are given the highest honors by our nation, and when their mission is complete, they will be dedicated as such.'"

We were famous! I thought it would happen someday, but we had done it in a matter of a few months. Now, the President and the chair of NATO were our biggest fans, for better or for worse. Before we left, I had one question left to ask. "How will we know when the Earth's core has been stolen?"

"Well…" Io stalled. "Your powers are not tied to this planet, so you will be unaffected. There is no Sailor Earth and by the Queen's design, there never will be. I think you will know by either a natural disaster or a major blackout somewhere."

I kept that in the back of my head as the Kuiper Senshi marched for home.

* * *

Roy and I had been going out for about four months at this point. I had started to like him more and more. Suddenly, the idea of dating became less strange and Roy felt more like a real boyfriend and not just a friend on the side. It seemed too good to be true, but by his great personality and willingness to talk to me all the time, I knew it was not. I noticed since we started dating, whether it be out of general respect or by my association with a popular student, I had gotten more and more respect. Other girls in school started asking me for favors like homework and rides home with Mom. They began talking to me and even began to take up my interests in anime and cooking. Whether they were fake or not, I appreciated having a few more friends now.

I also noticed for whatever reason, I started dressing girlier ever since I started dating him. I began wearing dresses, assorted jewelry, and even more makeup than usual whenever I knew I was going to see him. I had never been a tomboy, per se. But at the same time, I never put in an effort to make myself this "pretty" before. It felt like I was a new person. Leilani Kane still existed, but she had transformed into an elegant lady almost overnight and Roy was the one to show me how to do that.

There was a problem that occurred with all this. I was keeping up my grades in school, had a stable boyfriend, and was a Sailor Senshi on the side. These seemed like good things on paper, but I was stressed out and felt burdened by leading these three lives all at once. Just doing one of those things would be enough to stress a girl out, but I had to juggle all three. I decided to talk with Steffi to calm my nerves. I was glad I had someone to talk to during difficult times. We met at our usual bench one day after I called her about my current situation. "Well, you clean up nice," Steffi greeted me. I was wearing a short pink dress with a white jacket because it was a special date night at Roy's. His dad had heard of my knack for Japanese cooking, and as a professional chef, dared me to impress him. In a great role reversal, Steffi had her hair down still while mine was in a ponytail that day.

"Thank you." I sat down and began my discussion. "I came to you today because I feel like I am having…problems," I started. "I…feel like I have too much on my plate now. I took this job, see. And it made me feel overwhelmed by life. I mean, I have above average grades, which is nice. But I have to maintain them AND commit to Roy while working. What do you propose I do?"

"Well, you could always quit that job. It sounds stinky."

"Not really, at least not right now." This was the closest I would yet come to telling her I was the real Sailor Haumea. "My work is…complicated. My…dad gave me a global communication position at his work. So I cannot disappoint him by dropping it after only a few months."

Without looking at me, Steffi kept talking while she whipped out her notebook and laptop. She had her computer open to Oki's blog about us.

"If you cannot quit, I would just try to invest time in work. Sadly, that means cutting me out because school comes even paramount to work and I rank low on that totem pole!" She paused for a second, contemplating what to say next. Then, she added, "But whatever you do, keep Roy please. If nothing else, you are dating the prize of the school. Everyone is jealous of you, so take him seriously. The minute you let him go, you cannot get him back because there is nobody in their right mind who will let you. To keep the prize, you have to defend him!"

"Well, have you ever dated? I could use some advice."

"No, I am too busy with the manga to care about that. And I have been so busy with school and clubs for the last few years, I never even wanted to date anyone." She took up her notebook and began sketching away, though still talking to me. "However, I have observed enough guys in my life to analyze their tics and personality attributes." She looked at her laptop, then back at me, smiling. She diverted the subject to Sailor Haumea, as she clearly was not interested in romance at all. "I love these pictures he took of her. They capture Haumea's fighting side well."

"Yeah," I giggled. "They are...nice." I thought about Steffi as I looked at her all that time. Throughout my crazy journey both in New Mexico and as a Senshi, Steffi was the one constant. She not only helped me study, but gave guidance at the best times and kept me happy with her upbeat personality. And though she had no idea I was a Sailor Senshi, she gave me confidence in that I at least had one fan rooting for me. I had to let her know how much she meant right then and there. I could not contain myself any longer. I leaned over and wrapped my arms around her, containing my tears of joy as I did this. "All I want to say is..you are the best! I could not have asked for any more as a friend since I moved here. Thank you so much for helping me! Thank you!"

Steffi gave a confused smile, then hugged back a little bit. "Anytime, Lani. Anytime!"

* * *

That night, Roy drove me down to his house to satisfy a dare. Mr. Koningen dared me to impress him with my best dish, and I was going to do it. To rise to the challenge, I took out his wok from the kitchen, accepted the nylon hair net he offered me, and made the first Asian food I learned to make on my own: Chicken Kara age. That is to say, stir fried chicken in potato starch and cut into small chips. Also included was a side of tofu for extra flavor and nourishment.

As I sat over the wok, I broke into a sweat. The steam heated my face, but I worked on. I did everything from chopping the vegetables to carving the chicken pieces by myself. I spent much of the time tossing the food in the wok, and included a dash of soy to stick the ingredients together. I might have added a slight extra bit of olive oil for flavor. I hoped it would not damage the dish any.

It took fifteen minutes to prepare the food just so. At their dinner table, I passed out the four servings and hoped for the best. As Mr. Koningen was the one who suggested the dare, he got first bite. He chewed slowly, contemplating my methods and ingredients for a good fifteen seconds. Then, he swallowed and gave my evaluation. "Miss Lani, You over embellished the sauce and some of the vegetables do not fit the taste. You may or may not have also overcooked by about a minute...but overall I thought it was good. The variety in the dish was satisfactory. Congrats!" Phew! He had me on edge for a second. The family and I dug in together, enjoying my greatest gesture to the Koningens yet.

After dinner, Roy and I sat alone on the couch in awkward silence. His parents had gone upstairs leaving us to talk amongst ourselves. Roy spoke up first. "Lani, I have to tell you something."

"Yes?" I was worried. Were we breaking up? Was he mad at me? Or was it something positive like my cooking was great or that I could move in with him?

"I will be going away for a few weeks."

I felt my eyes widen at this announcement. It felt like we had just known each other, and now he was ditching me. "What?" was my only reaction.

"No worries. We are not breaking up. It's just...I got that internship in Germany and I will likely be gone until at least Christmas."

I felt my heart sink. "No. This cannot be. It seems like we just started dating and now we are separating. This is so not fair!"

"I know this is hard, but this is our last night for awhile. So I will make it count. It seems hard…" He put his arm around me, assuring me it would all be okay. "But I know it will not be for long." We flopped down on the couch, with him positioned on top of me. I stared into his eyes as he spoke. "You can call me any time and I will be right there. You can do great without me, Lani. I just know it."

We kissed for a few seconds after that. "By the way, the chicken was great. It was nice of you to cook tonight." As we lay on the couch a few more hours, Roy made that night one to remember.

* * *

The next day, Ganymede called yet another emergency meeting at his house. "This one is a matter of life and death. You four better show up this time!" he warned. I got up right on time and got the ride there in record speed. Kristina and the other girls were petting Dysnomia and talking amongst themselves when I walked in. They turned in my direction, looking concerned as to how big our next mission would be.

To get some happy smiles out of them, I broke out my guitar and played a few riffs. The others nodded their heads and clapped with me. It felt nice to have us together not as teammates or superheroes, but as just friends. And heaven knows I needed friends right now.

I thought about Roy, even though I tried not to. We had solidified our relationship that night. I felt imprinted on him and now we were separated, which meant I could not lead because of this mental distraction. I wanted to talk it through with how we had hit that point despite him leaving me for a while. But at the same time, the encounter was so personal, I felt I could not share it with anyone.

Instead, I started with the classic, "How have you girls been?" They said they were fine and working on their individual projects. Kristina had nothing to do, but Titania was keeping her in check. Claudia even got to ride here with her roadie Juanes. Apaay did nothing yet, though her transfer was almost complete to go to school here.

"That is cool. All of you are great. I...am close to making honor roll this quarter and...I got to read the blog. It's really nice how Apaay's brother can keep such cool photos. And I even did an in-character interview about our experiences to make myself seem authentic." I stammered so much, I knew I was giving myself away.

Kristina was the first to notice I was hiding something. She shooed the others away to listen to my anecdote. "I know these too well. You have troubles you do not want to share. But no need to worry. The others may be sensitive, but I have heard it all. So, what is on your mind, Lani?"

"You see, Roy has gone away. And last night, to mark this, we…"

"No worries, I understand." Kristina smiled her trademark leer at me, but this felt different. She seemed to be more in...understanding.

"Really?!"

"Yeah. It is kind of a big deal. But for now, we cannot be focused on it. Roy should be back soon, but for now, just focus on us now." I nodded, and tried to divert my mind to the situation at hand.

After this moment, Ganymede called us down. "We are ready to go. All hands on deck!" We had to walk down into the basement to see what Ganymede and Io had in store.

* * *

Tucked away in a small corner of the basement were what looked like closet doors. After Io opened, what we saw made all four of our jaws drop. It was a big room covered in grey set boxes, beeping buttons, and colored wires. At the center was a blue circle with what looked like a surveillance camera pointed at the center.

"Perhaps some explaining is in order," Ganymede exposited. "This is a light teleporter Io and myself invented to get to Earth in the first place. We made it to travel faster than light to and from in dire circumstances. The camera in the center will snap you, turning you into light, transporting you to a destination we select, then turns you back."

Io continued. "Right now, we have reason to believe the Chessmaster is on Planet Haumea. We do not know if he drained the Earth's core yet, but he seems to be planning a direct attack on Lani right now." My heart stopped. He knew! He was going for the throat. If I was gone, the mission was over. "So most of our armies have gathered there already, but they are expecting you four to lead them."

"Cool!" Claudia exclaimed in delight. "Let's go!"

"But we need a few more recalibrations. Does anyone here know about quantum mechanics or faster than light transfer of information."

Apaay perked up. "I know some mechanics. I never worked on molecular transportation, but I think I know how to make it work at maximum efficiency."

Ganymede whisked her into the room. "Then work away, my dear. My machine is your canvas."

We did not make up just yet, as Ganymede thought it best if we were disguised as soldiers when storming the planet. The four of us got into what Ganyemede called "Iridium Armor". Carved from asteroids and structured similar to gladiator garb, it would give us nigh invulnerability and enhance our strength and speed beyond the capacities of the average person. It would not quite get us at Sailor Senshi level, but it would allow us to run faster and work harder than even an Olympic athlete on Earth. The armor was color coded red, aqua, dark green, and black to match our Sailor uniforms. Wasting no time, we put it on in record pace. As Apaay did her work on the teleporter, I asked Kristina question that bothered me from the moment I saw her out of costume.

"Kristina, what is your totem? I never see you whip anything out when you transform."

She pulled back her coat to reveal a red brooch. It looked exactly like the one on her chest when she was Sailor Eris, right down to the odd energy it seemed to radiate the longer I looked at it.

"This is it. My brooch here is my totem. I put my right hand over it to summon its power. It has the strange side effect of glowing in the presence of the Chessmaster or his powers in use. That was how I found you, and how I think I could be a valuable asset in tracking him on Haumea."

I heard a whirring and clanking. It sounded like the teleporter was working again.

Io turned to me to give an instruction. "Lani, you can signal the Flame Chariot even when not in costume. Try it! You may need it in battle." I pressed the button and the Flame Chariot to my surprise did in fact appear inside the large teleporter room. No damage at all was sustained to either party, as if the horses had teleported through the walls without leaving a trace.

Ganymede towed the Flame Chariot with me and placed it on the platform instructing us to mount up. One by one, my teammates took their post. In our armor, none of us burned. I stood on the teleporter with my horses as our journey began a new phase. I was not sure if I would come back from this, but I had to die fighting for my home.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9: Battle of the Kuiper Belt**_

We literally hit the ground running as we crossed planet Haumea, my new home. The horses glided across the red sands and I saw nothing for many miles. It reminded me of driving through the deserts outside of Albuquerque, but at least those had mountains and shrubs to look at. This would be a boring place to rule. If I were ever made princess, I thought, the first thing I would do was build a shopping mall or concert venue or something for entertainment's sake.

I kept thinking as I was driving of the great burden placed upon us by the Sailor Senshi. It was time for us to step up and face the most legitimate threat to the galaxy since Pharaoh 90. Someone from Earth was now capable of stealing the Senshi's powers, and from what I heard had mostly succeeded by this time. The Kuiper Belt Senshi were the new standard-bearers for the fight and newest defenders of the universe. Whereas twenty years before, five Japanese girls led the charge, this time the torch had been passed to four girls from the Americas: North, Central, and Southern.

After about an hour of riding, I started to feel a bit dizzy. The monotony of our ride made me feel carsick as I was driving, which does not usually happen. As soon as I thought of handing the reigns to Apaay against my better judgment, I saw a rounded fortress ahead. It was covered in a blue aura and radiated with energy I could feel from some distance away. As we rode through, it felt like I was riding in a bubble. Ganymede confirmed our suspicions by saying, "It is our temporary fortress, Lani. You made it!"

* * *

When we got into the fortress, we were greeted by a great sight. A pastel-plated army at least five thousand strong marched before us. They all wore the Roman helmets and plate armor like we were, in colors of blue, orange, red, kelly green, purple, and black. "This is the Grand Army of the Galaxy," Ganymede informed. "The children of the Senshi recruited residents of their restored kingdoms to fight back after the cores were drained. Now, they are all at your service."

Leading the procession was a tall woman, taller even than Claudia, with long brown hair like Sailor Jupiter. She wore emerald armor with pink horsehair on top. The armor was even bloodstained for authenticity. I did not need to be told she was leading this operation.

Ganymede introduced us. "This is our eldest sister, Callisto. We all thought she would inherit her mother's title, and she was disappointed when they decided to pick new planets for colonization and new Sailors to go with them. Just recently, she took command of the armies of the galaxy and is leading this strike mission. Well...our part anyway."

Callisto took off her helmet and whipped her long brown hair. It flowed like a solar wave across her head and glistened in the faint starlight of my new ruling planet. Looking in our direction, she shook our hands and we exchanged names. After this, she said. "Kuiper Belt Senshi. You all look...really cool. I guess I would have to see you in costume for the full effect, but Serenity chose such beautiful young women to take her post. Tell me, which one of you is the leader of this operation?"

My arm shook as I raised it. "Um...I am."

"Alright," she responded. "You did a great job if you could keep the Earth safe that long. Well, welcome aboard, miss. You may just be the one to save us all." Callisto turned and smiled at Ganymede. "You did a good job, little bro. The universe is in good hands."

"I hope so," was all Ganymede could say.

* * *

The armies of six planets had all gathered around for the big fight. The five thousand strongest men and women in the universe were giving their lives to face a great evil, and I was one of them and with the demise of Queen Serenity, probably the most powerful person alive for now. It made me feel happy and somewhat proud to be commanding such an important fighting force. But I did have one valid question to ask. "What about Chibi Moon and the Shittenou?"

Ganymede sighed. "Chessmaster drained their cores first. They cannot help us now if they tried."

Like me, their armor was coordinated to match their planet signature, bearing colors matching those of the original Senshi, now overseers of those planets. One by one, Ganymede introduced me to the army leaders.

"For Mercury, we have Triton with the gold chestplate standing there. Venus has Ariel and her brother Umbriel, who will ride on a chariot together. Mars has the twins, Phobos and Deimos," He pointed to two boys about five feet in front of us fighting over the same longsword. "You met Hyperion in Chile, but he's leading Saturn. Pluto is under the control of Nix. She will take the rear while you girls fight."

Just then, an enormous goliath of a man, one who seemed to be about ten feet in height, bounded into view. "Hey, better not forget about me," the giant ordered, slamming a few of his brothers to the ground. He offered his enormous hand for us and all four of us shook at once.

"Who is that?" I asked Ganymede.

"That is Titan, son of Saturn. He was the first of the Outer Senshi kids to be born, and was thought to have been exposed to cosmic radiation, making him much larger than expected. As our big man, he moves all over the field."

Titan pumped his fist in the air and ran off to join his platoon. Following him was another man in purple with a silver helmet. He removed it to reveal himself to us as Hyperion. Claudia wasted no time in rushing up to hug him, and he smiled upon greeting her.

"¡Hola Señoritas! The whole universe is cheering for you, and I could not be more honored to be in your presence than now. Remember, your strength comes from each other, so keep yourselves close. And Claudia…" He knelt and whispered in Claudia's ear, to which she nodded her head in understanding.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"Something he came up with for me in practice. It could save our lives but trust me, it is better if you do not know just yet." She zipped her lips and I zipped mine in respect.

As we stalled in the hallway, I grew impatient. "So...when do we fight?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Time is of the essence, but we have reason to believe he will take his time to drain your core. I think if he were to drain it and get it over with, he would have already," Ganymede answered. "I would say...tomorrow at the latest. But this is weird as to why he has not acted faster. Call me crazy, but it seems like he is...baiting you!"

 _Baiting me?_ As I went to bed in our military barracks, I could not fathom why the Chessmaster would bait us. What did he want from me? He could have won easily, but had not acted yet. I fell asleep tortured by the thought of what the Chessmaster would do next.

* * *

At the center of the open foyer was a large table with a blue surface. Placed on the surface was a projection of the battlefield as well as our armies. I looked down at the Flame Chariot. I was shocked to see the hologram captured my likeness perfectly, right down to the black dot in my left eye. This Star Army was meticulous indeed. Callisto marched before the army to give her address and stood in front of the projection, explaining the plan in full detail. As she told us how the attack would go, holograms of the army acted out her descriptions.

"The Chessmaster has a wall of spikes and an army about our size flanking the ends of his castle. The Kuiper Senshi will stand in their chariot, leading the charge, while the rest of you will gather behind me and fight hand to hand. When you are clear of us, Sailor Haumea, you and your teammates will make up and proceed to march to the front doors. It is crucial you do not do this step too early, because we want to surprise them with the knowledge that Sailor Senshi are on our side. At that point, you should see the Chessmaster there and confront him one-on-one. We do not care if he is alive or dead, just so long as one of you four apprehends him."

She went on addressing individual battalions, explaining which army would do what. I zoned out a little during this discussion, because something with this whole setup bothered me. After a brief pause in Callisto's plan, I turned to Ganymede. "This does not feel right."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"An epic fight in the style of Lord of the Rings? This is not something Sailor Moon would have done. It was just the five of them in the first story with no backup. Why has this been amped up?"

"You are right," Ganymede sighed. "We want you to have the fight, but the Sailors' children and allies wanted to help to. Consider this your extended fanclub. Think of us as backup while you do something more in that spirit." He smiled a nervous smile and motioned me to take the front lines. "So you need to prove to us you are worthy of this large fandom."

We were all set to go. Apaay, Claudia, and Kristina mounted the chariot after me, and Dysnomia chased after hopping on with us. The army parted to make way for us as we sat at the front lines. The doors to Haumea opened in what felt like the longest few moments of my life.

When it opened, Callisto said first, "Ready?" After three seconds, she shouted, "Slow ride first," and we began to move. A lump in my throat formed as we rode off into the fray.

As we lined up in front, I looked ahead of me to see an elaborate structure. Far away from our stronghold but just close enough so we could see it was a black sphere with a small silvery point on top. It was floating on air atop a yellow table and had two grinding gears on the sides. As they turned, several tons of dust were tossed into the air, obscuring it from us. Nobody needed to tell me this was the hidden fortress of the Chessmaster.

I kept going over in my head what the Chessmaster might have looked like. Was he someone I knew? He obviously lived in New Mexico. He could be someone at my school or someone I saw on the streets. Looking at his castle in the distance, the only clue I got was he was into abstract architecture.

We moved about fifty steps before we saw a dark cloud running at us in the distance. Callisto motioned her armies to stop, while at the same time I cracked the reins, and Hi'iaka and Namaka ran in front at warp speed. Right then, an army of many thousands of Pawn Bearers, Knights, Siege Towers, and who knows what else launched itself on us.

"Stand your ground!" Callisto ordered. Of course, this was our cue not to stand our ground but run as far away as we could from the battle to draw attention more towards us. This proved to be easier said than done. The Pawn Bearers near us created a wall of their shields and put their swords out in front of them. It was the ideal formation for stopping cavalrymen. Nonetheless, I ordered my horses to increase the charge, and they entered warp speed. As they ran and collided with the enemy, a ball of fire erupted and the Pawn Bearers scattered. What few did not threw their own bodies onto us as our ride was slowed Apaay and Kristina, armed with swords, poked them at the sides of the chariot as we plowed through the wall of men. After what felt like an eternity of back and forth progress, I ordered one last push and we were free.

Scared to see what was behind me, I tilted the corner of my eye to look and see how my "fan club" was holding up on their own. Looking behind, I saw the army bumrushed. They all fell like flies at the hands of the Chessmaster. Most notable in my mind now are the mages of Triton batting away a few dozen Pawn Bearers as they tackled him and Callisto not even putting up resistance as a knight on horseback batted her to the ground. My heart sank as I saw my mentor lose an eye and get swarmed by Pawn Bearers. But at the same time, I felt myself burn with anger. I pressed on knowing we had to close for Callisto if the universe were to have any hope of surviving the evils of the Chessmaster.

* * *

We moved fifty paces away from the army as instructed to greet the swarm of Pawn Bearers rushing the chariot. About a dozen Pawn Bearers were gathered in front of us as well as clinging to the Flame Chariot. Then, the moment happened.

"Haumea Power, Make Up!"

"Sedna Power, Make Up!"

"Makemake Power, Make Up!"

"Eris Power, Make Up!"

What followed then was an eruption of lava from beneath my plant's core which created several mini volcanoes, followed by a tidal wave taller than my house on Earth, then an electric current flowing through said wave, conducted by its salt water, and finally a long ray of light which blinded our attackers.

Wasting no time, I shouted "Ganymede!" as loud as my voice could project, and Music as a Weapon formed with a bold flourish of red. I did my best Pete Townshend and made a few windmill licks. When we were done, our enemies were alive, but dazed, on the floor, and in no condition to fight. Sedna tended to their wounds and aided their retreat, while being careful to avoid backstabbing in the process. In general, we felt confident, and the whole attack had been going well for us.

Our animal companions thought they would be a hindrance to us, and I took the side of releasing them for the moment. I unhitched Hi'iaka and Namaka from their reins. They ran back off to the army, away from the castle. Dysnomia ran off into the woods. Eris tried to call her back, but to no avail.

Our moment of victory was short lived. Before we could even get the chance to turn around, about a dozen Pawn Bearers rushed out to confront us.

This next moment would go down as a defining moment in solar history. On my instructions, we joined hands and introduced ourselves to our attackers, with sedna putting up an ice wall for safety.

"I am Sailor Haumea, Guardian of Magma and Rebirth! And in the fiery depths of Haumea's heart, you shall burn!"

"My name is Sailor Sedna. As the Guardian of the Ocean and Tranquility, may the oceans accost you!"

"I am the Guardian of Chaos and Entropy. For the Love of Eris, you are in for a little Storm of Chaos!"

And Makemake presented the final draft of her catchphrase. "I am Sailor Makemake, Guardian of Joy and Radiance. Let my light shine through the darkness in your soul!" Cliche? Perhaps. Wishy-washy? Maybe. But it was all worth it because that was exactly what we Sailor Senshi wanted to hear given the circumstances.

* * *

Another flaming sonic boom sounded from my guitar. As our enemies flew back, we made a mad dash towards the Chessmaster's castle about a kilometer or so away. Most of the distance was covered on Sedna's salt water, where I created a rocky surfboard carrying Eris and Makemake. Through that distance, Pawn Bearers kept jumping us at every turn. From out the rocks or under the sand, they came for us, but the four of us blasted them away every time. This happened until we were a mere five meters from the castle and Sedna let her guard down by allowing the waters to recede. This was when three Pawn Bearers came from the rear and grabbed us. Makemake flung backwards though, in hopes of bucking them like a bronco, but collapsed under the extra weight. "No!" I shouted as she collapsed to the ground. Makemake had a smile on her face as she motioned us on, but I was distraught. Why didn't she use her shield?

Eris fell next, and we were right at the door. As soon as I geared up to blast it down, she lept into the air and prevented an ambush from a rogue Pawn Bearer. She glided and lept, disorienting his friends as they tried to touch her. She spun to dodge and punched to attack. But on her landing, she came down awkwardly on her ankle and collapsed. She let a few shocks out as she launched and offensive, but a Pawn Bearer hit her in the back with his shield, knocking her out cold!

I could not believe what was happening. We Senshi had held our own against dragons and siege towers. But now we were falling hard. These Pawn Bearers felt stronger than normal, more alert. They had been studying our tapes and now they knew how to fight. But now was the time to break their tower down and avoid further confrontation.

Sedna stopped in her tracks and turned to face our pursuers, making sharp points on her hands out of ice as she confronted them. "Now, go, Haumea," she shouted as she turned to me. "I can hold them off. I will buy you time to get to the Chessmaster. Go! Don't worry."

"No." I could not believe this. Sedna, the one Senshi who had been with me nearly every step of the way had just deserted me. "I will not leave you. You are my last friend remaining. I just can't…"

"No. You do this; for you are Sailor Haumea. Trust me. I will be fine. And even if I am not, this is your fight! You have to be the one to take home the win for us. Now Go!" I ran forward and did not look back as the Pawn Bearers rushed her.

It was all up to me now. I broke down the castle door with a loud riff. After I blew a large hole where the portcullis was, I ascended his black and white spiral staircase to confront the Chessmaster.

* * *

I barged through the open hole and ran down a hall to find another large doorway. In making this run, I realized I had acquired some more clues as to the Chessmaster's secret identity. He knew of ancient history, hence the anti-cavalry stance. His knights in battle moved in an L-shape, meaning he had a knowledge of chess, though his name might have given that away. It was also a trait displayed in Lewis Carroll's _Alice Through the Looking Glass,_ so he would have to be well read to know that. The Chessmaster was a nerd, but he was a versatile and intelligent nerd, capable of using all of his many talents to their best extent.

But whatever. The Chessmaster was a serious criminal. Why should I care? He stole all those weapons, incited anger on an international scale, already conquered a majority of our solar system, had paralyzed all life in it by controlling their technology, and most tragically of all had killed all my friends. But why not me? He did not have to stop with poor Sedna. Another clue, given by the planet location and his targeting of me during most of his raids meant the Chessmaster knew most of the smallest details about me and had an unhealthy obsession to boot. Whatever was to happen next was by design; the Chessmaster would be satisfied with nothing less than a final showdown with Sailor Haumea.

As I opened the door, I was met with little resistance. Inside, I saw an empty room. There was nothing inside. No furniture, no rugs, nothing. it was so empty I had agoraphobia just from being there. From the roof I noticed a skylight. Out on Haumea, the sun is but another star and little light illuminates the dwarf planet. But it seemed this skylight amplified a nearby star to its own advantage and shone it with about the same brightness as the Earth's own moon. It was fascinating and I sat and stared for a long while.

A pillar of stone erupted from the floor, catching me off guard. It knocked Music as a Weapon from my hands, turning it back into a wand. A second erupted as I was regaining my consciousness, gripping me by my dominant hand. My left hand! It became encased in rock as it touched the pillar, disabling me.

That was what confirmed it for me. The Chessmaster was someone who knew I was left-handed!

I heard the voice from beyond a corridor call my attention, preceded by a slow clap. "You made it, Sailor Haumea. Good job!"

"Well played... _Roy!_ "


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10: A Princess of Space**_

Yes, you heard me right. The Chessmaster, the megalomaniac trying to steal the Earth's power source. The one who attacked three countries with different monsters and called NATO into action. The traitor who stole all the weapons and radar technology in New Mexico…was my boyfriend! I had no way to believe this. This could not be true. Why had he even tried dating me if he was working against me this whole time? A whirlwind of emotions raced through me. I tried my hardest not to let any of my feelings anger, betrayal, denial, or frustration leak through as he might take that as a sign of weakness.

I got a good look at the Chessmaster for the first time as he strolled into the chamber where I was imprisoned. He wore white armor with black at the shoulder pads and breastplate. Though he bore a helmet with a visor covering his face, I still could identify Roy by his distinctive jawline. His helmet was white with golden spikes jutting from the top resembling a crown. All in all, he reminded me of Sauron from the _Lord of the Rings_ movies. He had a long black cape with the insignia of a white knight on it. I had seen that logo before on his Pawn Bearer's shields. I gritted my teeth in recognition of him.

"You put on a good act, Lani," he said through his vocoder, adding a surge of sarcasm as he said my name. He was using some type of distortion to mask his real voice, but I could still hear traces of it in the static. I was able to recognize the voice as the one who calmed the students down at Homecoming. "But I knew it was you."

"B-But…How? Why?" I could hear my voice cracking as I said this.

"I had my suspicions all along, but I spent more time with you to make sure. Your fan obsession with the original Senshi and the way you carried yourself against my Pawn Bearers narrowed down my list of suspects. So I set up the attack at Homecoming to see which student would rise to the challenge."

He put up another barrier around me as I geared for an attack with my good hand. He outstretched his right hand with his palm out. He made a slicing motion with his forearm and caused a flash, momentarily blinding me and making me lose focus of my powers. "Nope. Nope. No attacks yet. I still have to show the clincher." He raised his right wrist. His Rolex caught the light and shone itself in my face. "At our first kiss, I used this watch as a soul case. When we made contact, part of your powers went in here and further analysis confirmed what I already knew."

"But why take over the universe?!" I shouted at him. "You are so smart and so charismatic. You could have done anything you set your mind to. Why this?"

He answered with his own question. "Why ask the questions to which you already know the answer? Because I could. With this knowledge and ability, why would I NOT pursue total dominance of all existence. As soon as I realized the power in our planets and how to consume their cores, I took to gaining all the power in the universe. Why settle for being a normal human prodigy when I could make our very sun and moon bend to my will? Admit it, you would have done the same thing!" He stared into my soul as he said this. I shook my head no as I felt my emotions rise like magma in a volcano.

"No, I am not like you. I am stronger than that!"

He sneered at me and then concluded his villain speech with a line that hurt like a dagger to my chest. "The feelings were real, though. I felt a special...connection when dating you. You were the best girl I ever knew and our relationship had something. I will tell you what: you can keep your power, because I can make you my queen. Currently, we are the two most powerful beings in the universe. As a power couple, we would be unstoppable! Can you envision it, Lani?" He smiled again and clenched his fist in victory before delivering his closer. "And I know there is something inside of you that remembers its love for good old Roy. I was glad somebody could love me… _that way._ "

* * *

That was when the tears came. I had been trying to control my emotions, but the shock and strain of seeing this in front of me was too much to bear. I made a fist beneath my shackles and they melted away like hot fudge as my powers activated. I did not even need to reach for my Flame Rod as I saw my whole body glow a bright orange. I let out a large blast of heat in a supernova, and then applied everything Ganymede ever taught me in this moment.

The ground gave little resistance as volcanoes spewed from the floor. Lava coated the floor, leaving little room for movement. Fumes shot into the room, and would have suffocated a lesser human. But I was no average human. And from the looks of things, neither was Roy. Roy seemed unfazed by this display, as he just kept talking in his menacing, slightly distorted but normal tone of voice.

"And by the way, I planned all of this. I am the _Chessmaster_ after all, both on Earth and here."

As he kept reflecting my attacks, he continued talking. I felt like he was trying to psychologically torture me; beating me into submission to him with his words. "This is our battle arena, constructed with the sole purpose of our final confrontation in mind."

I tried to ignore him and kept attacking. I sent up a blast of a'a, but his shield blocked all of it. I touched my tiara for a laser blast, but it glanced off his armor like a pebble on a metal surface. Then, I made a pool of Lava and dipped my hand in to create a lava fist. But as I punched him, he sliced it away and once again was immune to the hottest lava ever created. "You know I already won. Just give up now and no more blood will need to be shed."

At last, I could handle this no longer. I saw my whole body glow bright orange as my powers were contained. To keep from blowing myself up, I unleashed them in a radiant display of heat and light. Once again the Chessmaster blocked it, with that implausibly strong shield. Out of tricks, I merely fell to the ground as the lava receded and landed on my butt, unable to fight on anymore. I slumped my head, giving Roy the cues that I had surrendered. All I could do now was cry in hopeless defeat.

* * *

The Chessmaster pointed his sword at my neck. He knew I had lost. He delivered a victory speech as he tilted my head to face his eyes. "You put up a good fight. I like that! This is the Leilani I fell in love with." I puked in my mouth a little on hearing this. "I am not going to kill you because it would be such a waste of life, but I am offering you an important choice."

He pulled from his cape pocket a long white object, and I cried even more. I did not need him to tell me that it was a wedding veil. As he placed it on my head, he continued his ultimatum.

"As my queen, you will keep you powers. I give you domain over this planet even to rule as you see fit, as well as gain everything I have and co-control over my empire i worked so hard to build. But if you say no, I drain your powers and you become something unimpressive in my kingdom like a scullery maid or booth babe...or worse. So what will it be? Life of prominence and importance, or just Leilani Kane, but in my eternal servitude?"

I said nothing, but as he leaned in, I posed no resistance when I closed my eyes and pursed my own lips. Better to suffer as Sailor Haumea than lose my dignity as Leilani, I thought. As soon as I was about to surrender a kiss, I heard footsteps running towards the chamber. My teammates, I thought. I did not even need the silhouette to confirm my suspicions. They had survived the battle after all! My sobs of anguish turned to tears of joy as I saw Eris lead the charge and burst into the arena. They stopped and gasped at the horrible sight in front of them.

The Chessmaster, undeterred by them, rushed at my lips. But my heightened Sailor Senshi reflexes put my index finger up to block him. My friends charged their powers, but I held a hand up to signal "not just yet."

"You know what, Roy? I do not think I need your offer. I have a prominent role on my team and we have all influenced each other in greater ways than you could hope to do to me."

Roy went on an attack. Sedna put up a snow storm, shielding us from anything he could dish out. As the other Senshi took my rear, I got to introduce them and what their time as a Senshi had done to change their lives.

"Sedna here learned to dream big. She devoted her life to studying, but never had any goals to work toward or ideas to utilize. With us, she found a purpose worth fighting for. And exploring Haumea, she has a new outlet for focus on her studies." Sedna pumped her fist in victory and held my forearm.

"And Makemake was pursuing a singing career. As a Senshi, she learned about the importance of networking and having friends tend to your events. Heck, I could probably be in a band with her!" She knelt her head, ready to fight. The Chessmaster grunted in annoyance, unable to even bruise us behind a wall of snow.

"Eris had a world of problems, no thanks to YOU! She lost her home and family and almost turned to a life of crime. And who was there to protect her? The Kuiper Senshi!" All Eris did was smile and stand in back with her hands clasped behind her, though her blushing let me know my speech got to her.

"But that is to say nothing of what these three did for my own life. I was an antisocial wallflower who only read manga and refused to speak to anyone before the Sailor Senshi came into my life. Now, I LIVE a manga! I learned to be a leader and to be a communicator during my time as Sailor Haumea. And I wouldn't have it any other way. These are my true friends, Roy. I thought you could be, too. But I will not be manipulated into it. I want you to EARN my compassion and for me to earn yours, because the four of us have a bond worth fighting for. They gave more compassion and kindness in four months of being a Kuiper Senshi than you could hope to in a lifetime. I was fine with being your girlfriend, but I LOVE being a Kuiper Senshi and what it did for me!"

To end this grand statement, the four of us all spoke at once. Either Sedna, Makemake, and Eris had a telepathic link or we all wanted to say the same thing at once, because in perfect unison, we said…"And now the Kuiper Belt enacts its justice upon you!"

The four of us put our hands on the Flame Rod and the entire room was illuminated with a blinding light. I thought it was coming from the Flame Rod or even Makemake at first, but when I looked down, the light was…me. I was shining the entire corridor and all the power came from my very being. It felt almost like my friends had fused with my soul, and four spirits inhabited one body. The light spread out from me in a dome-like structure, enveloping the Chessmaster and the entire castle. For what felt like forever, there was only white, and that was all any of us could see.

* * *

When the light cleared, the Chessmaster was reduced to Roy again. He lay on the floor unconscious, but still breathing, his limbs splayed out from his body. I expected him to be naked, but was relieved to see he still wore what resembled a business suit under his armor.

As I looked down, I noticed I was no longer wearing my Sailor Senshi uniform and my veil had disappeared, likely destroyed in the blast. Instead, I had on an elegant, flowing fire red dress reaching all the way to the floor of the castle that turned orange the further down the skirt I looked. When I twirled around the room in it, it looked like my dress was on fire. This was a stunning effect and felt symbolic of my newfound power. I looked down and saw a heart-shaped gem on my chest, not part of my outfit. It glowed, possibly storing my essence inside. I felt my head and discovered a beaded crown that forked on my forehead. My Flame Rod became an elongated scepter with a golden ball at the end. This ball crackled with energy and sent out a few sparks as I shook it. I took this to mean after my surge of power, I had completed my journey and earned the princesshood promised at the start of it all. My tears started to dry as I now felt physically and morally stronger now than when I was Sailor Haumea.

I turned to look behind me and smiled. My teammates seemed to have joined me as princesses, as their costumes had also transformed into gorgeous ball gowns to mark the transformation.

Sedna wore a conservative green dress with an aqua overlay. The style reminded me of a mermaid like Sedna's idol and namesake. This was highlighted by her turquoise earrings and breastplate, as well as a turquoise gem in the center of her forehead, now supported without a tiara. What I thought was a clever touch to the costume were green earmuffs over her ears to call back to her Inuit upbringing.

Makemake's dress was flashy and colorful, even more fitting of her personality than her Sailor Senshi costume had been. It was fluffy and flew from her body like feathers. The quetzal feathers on her mask spread to her shoulders and red bows strung from those feathers. Above her mask was a gold headband with gold gems dripping from it. She looked regal and festive at the same time; a striking balance.

Eris had the least flashy outfit and was the least distinguished from her Sailor form, making her design the strangest of the four. She wore a normal black dress with straps, a white overskirt laying across her waist, and a bronze headband barely qualifying as a tiara. Her pigtails, once slumped on her shoulders, now waved and rippled from her head in a dramatic fashion like lightning bolts from a cloud. The strangest thing about the dress was the red coloration at the bottom of the white part, which almost made her dress look bloodstained. Otherwise, it would not have looked out of place at my school prom in a few months. Why they gave the most normal dress to the team wild card, I have no idea.

Roy had come to in the midst of our celebration. All he could do was grunt and attempt to get himself up before collapsing again. As Sedna and Makemake got behind him and tied his hands behind his back with help from Eris' static electricity powers, I addressed him personally. "Chessmaster, or should I say—Roy Koningen—on behalf of the Sailor Senshi, the dwarf planet Haumea, and my teammates on the Kuiper Senshi, I place you under arrest." I did not have a badge with me, so I waved my scepter in his face to mark the statement. For extra measure, I thought of the perfect zinger for sending Roy off. I knelt down as if to kiss him, but instead pointed at his nose. "Oh, and Roy…" I started, "…we are done." Slap! Mom said never to do that to guys, but it sure felt good! Our quest had been realized. And the transformation was completely painless this time.

"But girls," I asked in earnest. "I saw you die! I watched the Pawn Bearers claim each of you. How did you make it out?"

Makemake laughed and put her hand on my shoulder. "Nonsense, Princess Haumea. You should have stayed after you rushed. It was all Hyperion's strategy."

"What?"

"He told me to fake death would make your emotions stronger and be able to fight on your own terms. This was always supposed to be your battle. Eris' move...was an accident, but I activated my shield to get the Pawn Bearers off me, then rescued Eris, and Sedna held her own well enough." Sedna blushed at this.

"But we believed in you," Eris chimed in. "As the one who united us and gave us a team identity, dignity, and hope for the future, all three of us would like to thank you."

They all bowed in reverence. Not knowing how to respond, I just tilted my head, clasped my palms at my waist, and bent my knees a little as a gesture of respect. We carried Roy's broken and barely conscious body out to greet the masses.

* * *

When we walked outside in full regalia to greet the army, they were still fighting in front of the castle, Pawn Bearers and Moon Fighters alike. It was as if our mission were still going on. One of us had to grab their attention, so we had to call out to them to show their new leaders had ascended.

"Stop!" Makemake shouted in her loud, booming voice. Combatants on both sides dropped their weapons and turned around. When realizing they faced royalty, they all dropped to their knees and hung their heads in unison to greet the four princesses. Though I could tell they meant me above all else, since I was the one holding a scepter over my head.

The leaders of all six planets came to approach us. Ganymede, the team leader for a while, took the front to talk to us, carried in back by Hyperion, still wearing his helmet. I noticed Ganymede holding a rag up to conceal his missing eye. Sedna tended to help him, but Ganymede shooed her away.

"It's fine. I can get a robotic one back on Earth. This is not a big deal." He smiled when he saw me. He reached his free hand and shook mine. "Haumea, you proved you could be the hero we needed. I am so proud of you, and I always knew you could pull it off." He turned to address the army. "Our purpose in this battle was to hold the line for the new princesses. They were the ones who gave us sanctity and clinched the match for us. Without the new Sailor Senshi, we would all be dead right now. So may I introduce to you, the new leaders of the Kuiper Belt...Princesses Sedna, Eris, and Makemake."

"Thank you Ganymede." I looked at my three teammates, who also knelt in my presence.

"Praise to Princess Sedna! Glory to Princess Makemake! Power to Princess Eris!" The crowd gave each individual princess her praise.

"And above all," Hyperion motioned me to the front and raised my left arm. "Hail to Queen Haumea of the Kuiper Belt, the new leader of the far reaches of our Solar System!"

"Hail Queen Haumea! Long live the Queen!" I heard everyone chanting.

I looked at my still kneeling companions and around the battlefield. Reflecting on this a moment, I thought about how Roy wanted to make me his "queen" and have me rule over everyone bearing that lofty title. The thought of being associated with Roy, even in this title sickened me. Did not want to be queen of anything if that was the case. I could take any other honor or title, but never would I be queen. After this contemplation, I spoke up by saying, "No. I will not be queen. The other Senshi did just as much as I did to liberate the Universe from the Chessmaster. And I could not have completed my journey without any one of them by my side. I cannot be thought of as above them; I am their equal in every way instead of their superior. I wish not to be a queen, but just a princess like the others."

Hyperion stepped back and lowered his voice. "Well, Your Highness. That was very…admirable of you." He redirected my announcement to the crowd, "Then hail all four princesses as our saviors and new leaders as one! They all played a part and should all be rewarded." The crowd roared again as my friends rose to greet them. "And my protege, Makemake here," he lifted her arm to announce her victory, "came through in the clutch to give Haumea the last second confidence boost she needed to carry the day." The crowd roared and Makemake smiled from ear to ear at her newfound celebrity.

"Victory party!" Makemake shouted as she twirled around in her princess dress.

* * *

As Roy was taken away by men in armor, Makemake took to work entertaining the militants with song and dance. As everyone engaged in a party began talking to each other, I sat back in the corner, smiling at all that was present. My heart literally glowed at seeing all this merriment. However, I felt a pang of guilt from the thought that some people had died in my name, and that I was responsible for ending their lives.

"How many were lost?" I asked Ganymede out of curiosity.

"About fourteen hundred casualties in total. It was sad to see them go, but all major leaders of our armies survived." I felt very sad at this. In the crowd, I saw Titan, Callisto, and the Mars Twins. So at least my newest friends were okay. "I would not worry about it too much. They gave their best. I think if they were going to die, it would be to defend the galaxy their own mothers helped to create in its current image. We will try our best even to integrate the newly unemployed Pawn Bearers to our system. We need them and they need us." He gave the signal for "time out with his hands and motioned me to the front. "There is one more thing you need to do. Tap your scepter to the ground to cleanse the galaxy and restore the Planet Cores lost!"

I moved to the center of the party, where a circle had been gathered to make my presence known. I raised my scepter into the air, and the handle grew long enough to slam to the ground. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and nailed it into Haumea's surface. The result was a small earthquake and a ripple of light which spread across the ground and beyond, all through the galaxy.

"There," I said, driving the point home. "Now, all planets are fixed. All buildings are as they were before the Chessmaster attacked. All peace is restored. All cores are back where they once were. The Original Senshi live again!"

The celebration, already uproarious and grand, turned into a rave at this announcement. I stayed for a few more hours, then told Ganymede I was ready to leave.

"Now, how do I get home? I do not suppose you know how to work the new material I received, do you?"

Ganymede came up with a suggestion on the spot. "I think you should tap the scepter again. It will obey your every mental command. Like Dorothy in Oz, if you say 'there's no place like home,' it will take you there."

"There's no place like home," I said as I tapped my scepter to the ground once more.

And then I opened my eyes. I was home, mere hours after I left, noticing no witnesses in the area. My princess dress and scepter were gone, replaced by my normal schoolgirl attire. Disappointed but accomplished, I strode off in the direction of my house. I could not tell anyone, but I had a great story after finishing my journey.


	11. Epilogue

**Author's Note:** This was meant to be published on Lani's actual birthday (7/28), but my work and technical delays pushed it back a little. I hope you understand.

Also, to anyone who read this far, thank you for your support. I wrote this story more for myself than anyone else. I created these characters on my DeviantArt, and all I wanted was to write a story around them. But I am glad I found an audience and people who liked what I wrote. And even if you didn't, I am just glad that somebody was able to read my vision. Thank you!

 _ **Epilogue**_

It was all over. Barely before Winter Break and all four of us had not only saved the world, but apprehended a dangerous threat on a universal scale, colonized the Kuiper Belt, and had become its first princesses. This had far-reaching effects across the galaxy as the colonisation program was deemed a success Our power had now surged and become on par with the original Senshi, which made me feel proud. For once, I had done something worthwhile.

Earth felt the effects of the Chessmaster's defeat also. You will not believe how Roy got his comeuppance here on Earth. It was the Winter Solstice, last day before break, and we were about to have class again. Right as Mr. Stanislav was handing out copies of a collection of Christmas short stories for live reading, the school police knocked down the door. They flashed their badges at Roy, while saying, "Roy Koningen. We heard something in regards to your private life and you have a lot of explaining to do."

Somehow, Ganymede had been able to frame the weapons theft on Roy. He was guilty, of course. But somehow, in some way, Ganymede had been able to make up a convincing story that Roy had committed grand theft! Roy got his driver's license revoked, suspended from school for a month, and a referral to court. Ouch! I thought about feeling sorry for him, but did not say anything. NATO called off the attack after they heard the Chessmaster had surrendered. They did not ask how or why, they took our word for it. After all he had done, especially to me, he deserved everything he got and maybe even worse! I could not believe I had known him that intimately. His parents did not kick him out of the house, but Mr. Koningen never wanted us to meet again. "I like you and your cooking, Lani, but Roy is just not the right guy for you. There are better options out there!" I agreed but secretly also promised to make him some Tadashi Ono recipes if he wanted.

My first Christmas in New Mexico was an interesting one. While the state can get cold, with even a famous ski resort in Taos being a destination I visited over break, Santa Fe is in the desert. It did not get cold, so I was still walking around in my normal clothes and never once bundled up that winter. Yes, I know Hawaii is warm, but Hilo is near the water, so I had to deal with El Nino, making everything muggy down there. New Mexico was a more comforting heat than that. I was fine with that and we celebrated like normal with the tree and music; just while it was 70-degrees and sunny.

* * *

The rest of the school year was mostly uneventful. I never needed to become Sailor Haumea again, so I will just describe the highlights for you here.

I tried out for softball that March. At my old school in Hawaii, I tried out for softball, basketball and cheer. I know I said I was antisocial before, but back then I had hoped to get over my social anxiety and meet new people through athletics. Sadly, none of them panned out. Especially not cheer; the less you know the better there. In a shocking twist, I ended up making the team that season as shortstop. As expected and hoped, I made friends with three new people on the team: pitcher Clara Barnes, who turned out to be an otaku like me, and fielders Andrea Botticelli and Rita Juarez, who shared my interest in reading. Of course, it helped Steffi played catcher that season also. Steffi was a phenomenon. She tried out for, and made, every team that spring season, but chose softball for the sole reason I was doing it too and wanted a good friend to play with her. That made me feel special. During that season, I made a few great plays including and had a batting average of .320, better than most of the boys on our baseball team. Central finished dead last in their conference, but I had fun and was just relieved to be a normal girl again.

When I graduated in May, I was able to get all A's. I worked hard for those A's, so you better believe we celebrated. I met with Steffi the day after at her ice cream party downtown. After the party ended, she said "I am almost done with the manga, but I need an ending. Who is the Chessmaster anyway?"

I thought of what to say, still traumatized by the utter betrayal I felt from Roy. I may have been able to lie to everyone else, but I could not lie to her.

"The Chessmaster is secretly...her lover!"

"No, really?" Steffi was skeptical. "That does not seem right. Her man is too goody two-shoes and a Gary Stu. It would be much better to have him as a secret hero. He'd never fly."

"But if you look back on it, it would be perfect. He is a prodigy, great at almost everything, so it makes sense for him. And he even plays chess, which is a great tip-off for observant readers. It is not completely obvious, but also not too difficult to guess."

Steffi chewed her pen tip and undid her ponytail before deciding, "I think that sounds valid. Anything else. Like, what is the resolution for the story."

I told her everything without telling her anything. She lapped it up and scribbled all the notes. And she was none the wiser.

* * *

The other Sailors also had eventful summers, and I played a part in all of them. Apaay finally got her student visa to continue her schooling abroad. She was not opposed to learning the old-fashioned way. She just had to pick a school she liked with its own planetarium. And where did she decide to go? My school of course! Apaay Cayuk will become the newest Central High Mustang in Fall 2016. The only problem was Sauri never bought her a place in town. My dad was more than happy to oblige, though. "Lani told me you were her pen pal. If you want to stay here, you will have to pay a small rent fee, but you are welcome to crash."

Apaay contacted Sauri and he was more than happy to provide rent while she lived with me. She would get her own house next year, but for right now we were roommates. I was glad to hear she would be my classmate next year. And even if it is for one year, rooming together means Apaay and I will be like sisters almost. I was so glad the Senshi who was closest to me and stayed with me the most on my journey ended up being the one to move in to my hometown. Junior year does not look so bad after all.

She even found her father a while ago. He came back on a kayak, claiming to have found meaning in his life. He said the thing that made him happiest was as a boat captain. So he bought a house boat and offered tours of Vancouver Island on it.

Apaay told a story of how she had received enlightenment as well. "I found myself when I saw the image of Sedna in the ocean." Her dad smiled at this and whispered "Congrats" at this notion. It was great to see how even after three years of absence, Apaay and her father had not grown far apart.

* * *

Claudia made her second album this month. I got to play guitar on three of her songs and played one of them onstage when she stopped in Santa Fe during her tour. The album was titled _Estella en 32 Formas._ She told me she was expressing herself through the album's thirty-two tracks by having each one be a different style and convey a different aspect of her life. The liner notes showed her in a different costume each track, including her soccer jersey, a cancan dancer outfit, and even a bridal gown. But the one that raised my eyebrow was she put her princess dress on for the track we were playing.

"Did Hyperion not tell you the rules?" I snapped at her in the studio bathroom. "You were not supposed to tell your secret!"

"Esta bien," she assured. "I just excuse this by saying Makemake reminds me of myself. I see myself as a Sun Princess, and the song is all not real, just describing me as a metaphor for the princess, and not as the princess herself."

Since most of her songs were in Spanish, I did not understand a word of what she sang even as I played the tabs provided for me. However, for this album, she recorded one song in English and another in French, translations for both provided by a certain Miss Apaay Cayuk. Being in a recording studio was fun and a great new experience. Many of the songs were very catchy and easy to play, so we were done in about a week.

The album got mostly good reviews and sold well, but I only got about a few hundred from the profits. That was not important, as I liked playing guitar more than I wanted or needed the money. Her English song, by the way, was the Makemake song, "Guardian of Joy". When I took stage to perform it, nobody called out my name or gave me any cheers, but I overcame stage fright to do it anyway, probably BECAUSE I was just a backup player and had no burdens to perform placed on me. I would play a bit for you now, but it would be hard to transcribe the song in a text-only format and give you the full emotion of it.

* * *

Kristina has gotten her life in order also. Instead of New Mexico, though, she moved in with her mentor Titania in Texas. Titania considered adopting Kristina as her ward while she became situated, but Kristina spoke against it. "Though my home was destroyed, I know exactly where to find my dad," she said. "He was not even in San Jose at the time. This is just for a few weeks at most until I contact him." She threw sort of a housewarming party and invited us all to come, and we did.

I forgot to tell you what happened to Dysnomia after the Battle of the Kuiper Belt. When we cleared the area to start the party, the dog bounded out of the bushes and started licking Eris. Eris made her an honorary Knight of Eris-that was the title she had chosen for warriors on her own planet-and took Dysnomia with her when she beamed home.

At this party, we were all instructed to bring something reminiscent of our home culture, so we could not only get a sense of character but also take something with us from them if we were not going to meet again in person for some time. I wore a lei of hibiscus, my state flower, but had a special surprise prepared for each of their gifts.

I brought Apaay with me as my mom gave us a train ticket all the way to El Paso. Dysnomia was standing outside, and she rushed to greet us, almost tackling Apaay as we arrived. We buzzed the doorbell and to our surprise, Ganymede answered. I was shocked to see his eye had been replaced by this black ball with a point in the center. As it focused on me, the point widened and extended, turning into a miniature telescope.

He only read my dazed expression to know what I would ask. "Mercury's daughter Nereid is a great doctor. I told you I could get a prosthetic!" He continued with, "I came here for a party, too. I needed some rest after what I went through."

Kristina wore a salsa dress and taught us all to dance. We had chocolate coins, Ganymede played some music, and we talked about how our lives were going. And then it was time for gift exchange.

Apaay lay down a fur coat and snowshoes. She also bore a plate with a salmon on it. Claudia wore a special pancho weaved with her colors as Sailor Makemake. She took it off and placed it on the table as her gift, garnished with an Easter island head for good measure.

Now, it was my turn. All eyes on me, I gave them all something not just reminiscent of American culture, but something that reminded me of them when I first saw them. Apaay got a snowglobe of Vancouver inner harbor. Claudia had a replica guitar as well as a quilt of her home flag. And Kristina got a lei of her nation's flower-guaria morada-as well as a dance ribbon that was as blue as Sailor Eris' lightning attack, that she could use in her charity work if she ever wanted to dazzle the audience as she had once dazzled me.

"Thank you, Lani," Eris said, fondling her gift with her fingers. "I will always remember this."

Kristina now dances for charity events and raises money for homeless neighborhoods in both the United States and Costa Rica.

* * *

Earlier this summer, we all went to Roswell CosmiCon as "ourselves". Instead of powering up and posing a danger to others, we decided to try homemade knockoffs of our uniforms, partly as a test to see if anyone would piece together the puzzle and realize our identities. I had no idea Claudia was a seamstress also. She got our costumes down pat using blurry photographs and hearsay. Was there anything she could not do?

Nobody caught on that we were in fact the real Kuiper Senshi, but we got plenty of compliments on how authentic they were. One kid told Kristina her cosplay needed work. She was not amused. Some people went as us even, to varying degrees of authenticity. A handful of Kuiper Senshi cosplayers bum-rushed the Sailor Moon shoot on Day 2, but were kindly told "in-series characters only" and created their own shoot in protest. With us front and center.

The real reason all of us went was because Steffi was using this to promote her manga. Yes, _The Rise of Sailor Haumea_ had indeed gotten published by an indie publisher. Copyright was no issue because the original _Sailor Moon_ author had given it her blessing. It was considered non-canon, but rather a companion piece to and a reimagining of the original. Judging by the wad of bills she held in her hand, she got rich just from initial sales at this one con. Steffi had an idea to have actresses do a panel as the Kuiper Senshi to deliver details in-character about the manga. This was a great idea and got me to practice my acting capabilities. I did not suffer stage fright here either. It may have been because all four of my best friends were there with me to keep me sane.

At the panel, I got into character as I answered as honestly as I could. There were about fifty people gathered there, and every one of them had something to say. These are some of the ones I could remember that were directed at me. You would have to ask my teammates for theirs.

"What was your favorite part of being Sailor Haumea?"

"Is there a future for the Kuiper Senshi?"

"As a princess of a small planet, what advice do you have to offer for us here on Earth?"

I do not really remember all my answers, but most of them were generic without being cliche, like "Be as nice as you can be" or "Just the experience was satisfying enough for me." The crowd loved it anyway.

It was fun. We had fun. Steffi said my performance was spot on. We even got to sign the first one hundred copies sold as a special promotional stunt.

I still have not told her the truth. I do not know if we should grant her press immunity right now and how to convey the message in a delicate manner. Knowing Steffi, she would tell the whole world. So if the Sailor Senshi have any ideas how to handle the situation delicately, that would be nice of them.

* * *

And here we are now, exactly eleven months after that fateful day I discovered the Flame Rod. It is my sixteenth birthday today. Wow, does that feel strange.

Ganymede insisted I record the tale onto the mechanism which you are hopefully reading right now. It looks like a Pringles canister with a blue glowing light, but when I speak into it, it is supposed to record my story in text format. When I am done, he will distribute this to the moon and beyond letting you know of our success. My recording of this tale is an introduction and would be the start of a dialogue between the old and new Sailor Senshi.

So to the Senshi in the outer reaches of the Solar System…thank you! Thank you for your protection of this earth in our times of need. But most of all…I thank you for giving me guidance in my life. Your heroism and initial defense inspired me in my own life, both before and after I joined your ranks. It was your entire existence that shaped me into the woman I have become today. Without you, I would still be the nerd in the corner buried in her binder, too shy to talk to anyone or make friends. When I became one of you, that was my catalyst into independence and adulthood. I learned to be a leader and take charge of a situation, as well as make decisions which governed my life and the lives of others. I had no idea you were real, but I am ever so grateful you ended up being real and giving me a journey to accomplish. I was not the damsel in distress; instead, I was the damsel saving the distressed!

Here's to our glorious meeting in the future. I await your return with open arms. You have left Planet Earth in our hands and we shall try our best to defend it for you!

 _-Leilani A. Kane, Sailor/Princess Haumea_

 _Leader of the Kuiper Belt Senshi and Defender of Earth_

 _Recorded 28 July 2016_


End file.
